The Loneliest Number
by The Qing
Summary: Set before the events of Ben Ten. Bookish loner, Jeremy Diecilly discovers a dangerous alien weapon that gives him power unimaginable. And must decide whether to use its power to unleah the hero, or the villains within it and himself. Full Summary inside.
1. Ten Little Letters

The Loneliest Number…

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10, plain and simple as that. I don't own the Omnitrix either. (It would rule if I did) But Jeremy and his future foes are mine.

Full Summary: Takes place before the events of Ben 10. For as long as he could remember, bookish 10-year old Jeremy Diecilly has been a subject of bullying, disrespect, anxiety and above all, loneliness. Now as the school year is at it's second semester he grudgingly accepts the fact he'll always be a lone loser. And that the girl he loves (who happens to be his best and only friend) will never be his. But when he's nearly crushed by a shooting star during a walk in the local woods and against his better judgment, decides to investigate. He discovers it to be a charred alien corpse and strangely enough, a red watch-like device attached to its wrist that seems undamaged by he crash. Before he can react, the device springs from the dead alien and latches itself onto his wrist. Much to his amazement, he discovers that the device gives him the ability to transform into 10 alien forms, each with their own special abilities. But he soon finds out that such a thing has a price. And now Jeremy's solitary mind is about to have some company, lots of company.

Author Note: This story is both an adaptation and a prequel to Ben's story. It depicts how a person more responsible, but less confident and optimistic would use the Omnitrix. (or in this case, a very dysfunctional prototype of it) And how he'd cope with the burden of not only trying to combat the sinister alien forces that are trying to take over his own body, but also the monumental task of using a weapon of mass destruction for noble causes and to serve others, rather than selfishly using it for his own personal gain.

Man, this is one long author note, but at the end of each "Episode", there will be a brief bio on each of the aliens that are presented in it. Also, it the Pilot Episode of The Loneliest Number is well received, I may make more. Enjoy.

Pilot: Ten Little Letters Part 1

Location: Limax Ship, Depths of Space

The ship the Limax had stolen was quite an impressive sight. They had stolen it from a space port while it was refueling in a backwater part of the galxy. It was huge, a prison ship

_With a single, secure cage._

But it had a control system that allowed it to be piloted by a minimum of 4 pilots.

_That was okay, they were 15._

The Limax had planned to use it to invade primitive planets that would hopefully have a multitude of old, crunchy primates. It was well armored, with several beam cannons, eight missile launchers, warp drive (surprising for a ship of that size.)

_Not too surprising_.

Well stocked mess hall and every single member of its new owners were completely and utterly dead.

_Heh._

They say that space is the final frontier, a whole new front for new discoveries and advances. That was true, but it was also cold, cold and unforgiving.

_Suits them just fine._

The Limax pirates were never too enthusiastic about the coldness of space. As they had built heated environment suits and increased the temperature of ship to keep themselves in a comfortable, heated environment.

_For all the good it did them._

You're probably wondering what kind of grizzled, jaded individual is thinking these thoughts. In one of the ship's well-hit hallways that seemed to stretch far into the non-existent horizon, a lone masked figure lay slumped against one of the large windows on its side and cast a glance at the starry void. If he were to stand up, the figure would've resembled a muscled bounty hunter, with his tattered black cloak, graying hair that peeked out at the bottom of his metallic mask and an old, harpoon gun that's blade and attached rope were still strong even after years of wandering. He wasn't one though, a bounty hunter that is. He preferred the term, old-fashioned. He was one of the few that wished to remember when _it_ was still on the loose. When even after its era had ended it had proceeded to wreak havoc across the stars until it was stopped. Stopped, but not destroyed. Caged, but now free.

And as he gazed into the blackness of space, his mind began to wonder. If he were to fall out of the ship, would he implode? No, he thought. That only happens in space suits. Would he explode, shrivel up, atomize or just drift, without the anchor of gravity, floating. After experiencing a lifetime of battles, high speed chases and betrayals, he couldn't help but snicker at these peaceful thoughts and regretted not thinking of them earlier. He was glad he thought them, because as he heard a computerized voice announce that the ship's power core had malfunctioned after a _significant_ drop in the engine room's temperature, saw the hallway darken before the emergency lights turned on and saw the wall opposite of him being covered by frost, they were probably the last thoughts he'd ever have, ever again.

One of the dead Limax pirates laid down in front of the slowly freezing wall, still encased in a block of ice. It was one of the few corpses he had seen that appeared to have died fighting the creature as an energy pistol lay next to it. The hunter reached over and tentatively took hold of the pistol and examined it closely. The battery had three shots left. "It'll have to do," he thought as he put it in his empty holster. Now all he had to do was wait. It wouldn't be long now.

The creature entrance, was, in a word, dramatic. It broke through the now completely frozen wall and had punched its way through it. A shard of ice had struck the above emergency light, breaking it and shrouding the hunter and the creature in darkness. Obscuring its features. That was fine, he had seen this form more than enough times. The only thing that could be seen of it was a glowing, red circular emblem with a symbol resembling an hourglass on what was assumingly its belt. The place began to get very cold, very, very cold. He didn't need to see it to realize it was prepared to strike, he didn't see its arms but knew they were raised, he didn't see his face but knew it was smirking. By now its eyes were used to the darkness. Perfect, he thought. And with that, he threw a small orb at the floor and the room was filled with a blinding flash.

It was small, it was childish but it worked. The creature was temporary blinded and misfired its blast at the ceiling. The hunter wasted no time in unslinging his harpoon gun and shot a harpoon at the hole from which the creature came in from. The bolt lodged itself into the next room, the attached rope held fast and firm. The creature had managed to regain enough of its vision to charge up a second attack. But it was already too late. The hunter had pressed the "Open Hatch" button of the door he was leaning on.

The creature was sucked out into space, almost instantly. The vacuum had surprised it and it didn't have time to anchor itself. Frozen Limax carcasses and loose equipment followed suit. The hunter was luckier. He had managed to keep a firm grip on his harpoon gun. The rope still held, and with tremendous effort, he turned and took out the laser gun and attempted to shoot the Hatch control door button.

First shot, missed. Second shot, missed again. One shot left. He aimed carefully, keeping a strong hold on the laser gun and fired. The hatch door closed as quickly as it had opened.

The hunter's body crashed to the ground and lay there, resting for a few moments. He was tired and it was over…for now. He wished he could stay longer but reminded himself that this ship was going to shut down completely and would trap him inside of it. He couldn't afford that, he had gone too far. They would be weakened when he would meet them again, he couldn't lose that chance. So with a sigh he dislodged the bolt from the wall, slung his harpoon gun on his back, dumped the laser blaster on the floor and casually pressed a button on one of his gloves…and disappeared, leaving behind an empty ship, floating in the void of space.

Location: Earth

"Jeremy!" a voice shouted. The voice was clearly that of a girl's, possibly ten years of age. A worried and concerned girl. "Jeremy!" she called out again, trying to find where her friend was hiding. "Come out Jeremy! It's me. There's nothing to be afraid of!" she announced. "It's getting late, your mom's going to be worried. And you know how she gets…" She was right. It was already getting dark. If she were to look up she would've seen the stars twinkle through the crooked branches of the trees. "Jeremy!"

But Jeremy did not answer. He had hidden himself behind a tree trunk deep in the park's forest. Not too far that he didn't hear her, but not close enough to be seen. And that's what Jeremy wanted, not too be seen. Not now. He needed to be alone. Just his luck, that's what he was for the worse half of the day and now when he actually wanted to be alone someone always had to interrupt. He couldn't blame her though. She was a good friend, a great friend and on a normal day he'd be the happiest guy in the world if he was spending time with her at the library or the mall. This time though, he was satisfied (not happy mind you) to sulk.

"Jeremy!" he could hear her give off a frustrated sigh. "Fine!" she yelled. "If you want to stay here for the rest of the weekend, that's your decision! I'm going home, you hear me? I'm going home! And don't blame me when your mom gets the entire police force searching for you when she finds out your not in bed by your curfew!" she stomped on a particularly hard leaf that made an audible crackling sound "Sometimes I wonder why I even bother trying to talk with you! I'm wasting my time! You're wasting my time! It's like you a big waste of time!" That last comment struck him pretty hard. She trudged away, her feet made crunching noises as they stepped on the leaves that dotted the forest floor.

He was just about to get out of his hiding place when the footsteps stopped. "Sorry about that last part. I kinda lost my temper on that one. It's just that, I really want to help you, understand you, but you keep saying that you don't need help and there's noting much to you. But…I just want you to know, that you can always talk to me about…anything. Anything that's on your mind… If you have any problems just tell me, okay?" Jeremy struggled not to answer her plea. "Sorry about today, have a safe trip home." The crunching noise of crunched leaves continued until they couldn't be heard anymore.

When he was sure she was gone, Jeremy came out of his hiding place and started up the dirtpath that led to the other side of the forest. A few minutes later, he sat on the roadside and put his face in his hands.

Jeremy was a boy of 10 years of age. A gangly bespeckled boy of average height with black hair, striped black shirt and blue jeans, he looked quite...normal. Except for his paint smeared shirt and pants that is. He was young, well-groomed and felt terrible.

He had fallen prey to another prank. That made 3 times this week and 8 in total counting the previous week. "Great way to start the semester," he thought bitterly. Why did this always happen, he was smarter than this. He was more cautious, more careful. It was just that they chose to happen when she was there. Whether he was walking alongside her or even if she was sitting in the same class, her presence always put him at ease. Always made him think nothing bad could happen, a feeling that quickly abated when something did. Paper clips, spitballs, buckets of paint, he was used to stuff like that. But he had made a New Years Resolution, made it right in front of her when she insisted, that things would be different, things would be better. And this latest prank made him feel like he failed that promise and couldn't handle it. So he did what he always did. Or at least something he should've done the previous year. He ran and hid.

And when she had tried to help him he pushed her away. That's what he regretted most. She was such a great person, maybe she thought he took her for granted, that wasn't true. Jeremy would've given just about anything to gain the courage to tell express how he really felt about her. However, a thought kept keeping him from doing so; "She deserves better." He'd always say when the thought came into his head. Jeremy felt he was unworthy to be near her, much less be her friend. Maybe if he was stronger, faster, cooler or even smarter he'd feel like he'd have a chance at winning her over. But that wasn't going to happen anytime soon.

He let his tear stained face out of his hands and gazed at the night sky. The twinkling stars could barely be seen through the smog and dust that dominated most of the nighttime sky. They were seen though, that was what counted. Then he saw something odd, something he had never seen before, A shooting star, so bright that it shone through the mucky curtain of atmospheric chemicals. This was his first time to see one and from what he heard he was supposed to make a wish. So he did. "I wish I could make my resolution come true. For her." That was when the star decided to stop heading towards the sun and started to plummet, right towards him.

Jeremy let out a yelp and quickly scrambled from where he was sitting and got 12 feet away before the "shooting star" crashed. The impact was much smaller than he had expected, sure he was knocked off his feet but he had expected to be obliterated or at least torn to pieces. In fact, if it weren't for the fire that had just started, he could've sworn nothing had happened at all.

He wanted to run, get the fire department before the whole place burnt down. But he was rooted to the spot. He had never seen a meteorite (if that's what it was) up close. He had seen a few in some museums, but you couldn't really look at them very close. And when the government found out it had crashed, they'd probably quarantine off the area and send it off to some research facility in the middle of nowhere. So against his better judgement he carefully made his way through the burning walls of trees to where the shooting star fell. "Just one quick look, and I'll run, just one quick look," he thought as he narrowly avoided a flaming branch. "If I live, that is." A minute of dodging and running passed, his clothes clung to his body, the heat was making him dizzy when he saw the crater the object had made. It wasn't a meteor.

Jeremy wiped the sweat from his glasses and looked at it again. His eyes must've been playing tricks on him, but they weren't. It was a skeleton. A black, charred skeleton with a large head and three eye sockets. An alien? It was unbelievable that it had survived going through the atmosphere, yet there it was. Still, it was nothing compared to the device on its arm.

At first glance, Jeremy thought it looked like a wristwatch designed by an eccentric company. The device looked like a glowing, red, metallic shackle with a circular emblem on it and below the emblem was a square shaped button. It looked undamaged from the crash and continued to give off a redish hue. Jeremy found himself reaching for it. Struggling to decide whether or not too pick it up. Behind him, the fire was closing in, surrounding him but he didn't notice. It must be scorching hot from entering the atmosphere, it would burn right through him. But he still couldn't make up his mind. He didn't have to. The watch made it for him.

The watch leapt off of the alien corpse, assuming a liquid state before latching onto Jeremy's arm. Jeremy let out a cry and tried to remove the device from his wrist. He tugged, he pulled but it held fast. By now the fire was all around him, nearly touching, but his gaze never left the watch. For its square shaped button had somehow sunk into the watch, its face had jutted open, twisted a few times then went back into its slot. Jeremy felt like his skin was on fire, pain shot out through his body. Then he felt cold, very cold. He looked down and saw his feet were now frozen, covered in ice. The frost continued to grow upward from his legs and proceeded to crawl up his chest and torso. The cold was nearly unbearable. He looked at the watch. Knowing that it was somehow responsible for this. "Wh-what are you?" he asked.

Another voice, raspy and clear answered from out of nowhere.

"_Infinitrix."_

And though he didn't know it. Jeremy had already fulfilled half of his resolution. Because even though things weren't going to get any better, they were certainly going to be different. Very different indeed.

To be continued…

Author Note: So what do you guys think? Do tell.


	2. Ten Little Letters Part 2

Pilot Episode: Ten Little Letters Part 2

Author Note: Sorry for the long wait… I promise I'll make the next one faster.

A hulking figure staggered down the asphalt road. Every step it took was wobbly. Every motion was unbalanced. It clutched the side of a nearby building for support, leaving a patch of ice that would melt by morning. The figure was tired, out of breath, wounded. Among all of them, he had to be chosen for this task. He had saved them all and this was how he was thanked? The creature wanted to be outraged, but it couldn't. Too tired, too weak, he'd talk to him about it later.

The land he walked was strange to him. Stone, instead of metal structures touched the sky. Creatures of steel prowled up and down the roads with glimmering eyes. Never in all its travels had it seen such a world. At least, it didn't think it did. It couldn't think straight. Something was wrong with its mind. But for now, it had to find shelter. The new host must've had a home. A place to rest, to heal. There must've been. The coordinates given to him were accurate, unless they were on he fritz as well. For nearly an hour, it trudged, lost, walking towards a place that may or may not exist. Then he saw it.

If he were to judge the host's home he would've said it was quaint. It was a medium sized building. From what he could see there was plenty of space, multiple rooms, many pleasant shaped balconies and it probably had a dark, unclean basement. This, especially the last part would've pleased one particular member of his group until he received a message, unwritten and unseen, that the host did not reside in the entire building but in one of its rooms. Specifically the third one on his left…on the eighth floor. The creature sighed in frustration at the task that lay ahead. "_Well,"_ It thought. _"At least he has a balcony."_

**Time: The Following Morning**

Jeremy didn't know how he had gone from the blazing inferno, all the way to the safety of his apartment home, nor did he care. He was sleeping in his bed, though not completely awake but in that state where we know we are awake but choose to remain in our beds with our eyes closed. Because he knew he was in this state, he knew that he wasn't dead, or frozen or burnt to a crisp. The events of last night seemed like a bad dream and he hoped it was. The prank, the argument, the shooting star, the alien, the watch, maybe none of it happened and everything would go back to normal. His moment of quiet bliss was shattered by a jolly voice that could've broken glass.

"Jeremy! Breakfast is ready!" it cried.

Jeremy buried his head in his pillow and tried to sleep once more. But the voice persisted.

"Jeremy honey! Wake up! It's time to greet the day!"

He felt tired, drained and wanted to get more sleep. He raised his head from his pillow and groaned. "Mom, it's the weekend! Can I have five more minutes?"

"Oh come now honey! I made your favorite, pancakes with blueberries!" she replied. The smell of freshly made pancakes wafted had already come into his room, enticing him to leave his bed.

He covered his ears with his pillow even when he knew it wouldn't drown out the sound. The apartment he and his parents lived in was, like all the others, sizeable, with a working bathroom, 2 living quarters and a kitchen connected to the living room. The problem was, it was so tightly packed that any sound made in any of the rooms could be heard in the other rooms as well. This was a bit of a problem if one of them was watching a loud action movie on TV, or trying to get some sleep.

He was going to say another plea for more rest but heard a voice snarl out from out of nowhere;

"_If that harpy isn't silenced, I swear I'll obliterate this entire building!" _it threatened.

Jeremy's closed eyes opened in shock. It was the voice he had heard earlier, the voice that he had heard the night before. "_It was only a dream,"_ he told himself as he got out of his bed. "_It was only a dream,"_ he planted his feet on the bedroom floor. "_It was only a dr-."_ and slipped on a small puddle when he attempted to stand. He landed on his back and struggled to pick himself up, only to slip on the puddle again. The second time he tried, he was halfway up until he realized something, "Wait, why is there a puddle near the foot of my bed?" He looked behind him and saw there were more puddles, they formed a makeshift path from the bed to his balcony. "_How was that possible?_"Jeremy thought. He found himself looking at the puddle he was standing on. It was cold, very cold. "_Cold?_" He thought fearfully. Jeremy wasted no time in leaving his cold room and entering the warmth of the kitchen.

"_It was only a dream,_" Jeremy told himself again as he sat on his chair at the breakfast table.

Jeremy's mother, a wiry cheerful brown-haired woman wearing a green blouse and brown khaki pants with an apron tied in the front, laid a big stack of pancakes in front of Jeremy. "I'm glad you're here honey. You had me so worried last night, I almost had your father send out a search party for you." She gave her son an affectionate hug before seating herself on the chair opposite of Jeremy.

Usually, when presented with this big of a breakfast, he'd eat a quarter of it and save the rest for later. But for some reason, he was famished and before he knew it, had eaten 4 of the 12 pancakes seconds after they had been put in front of him. Jeremy's mom smiled at this. "Well someone certainly has an appetite to-." Then she noticed something strange. Something was different about him. It wasn't his hair, it wasn't his clothes or change in appetite. Then she realized. "Dear," she began. "That's a very interesting watch you have on.

Jeremy was finishing his 11th pancake when he heard her say that. For the first time that morning, he looked at his right wrist and nearly choked when he saw a strange watch-like device on it. His dream hadn't been a dream at all.

"_A dream? Bah! What kind of nonsensical notion is that? Are you stupid as well as vertically challenged?" _the voice mocked.

"Yeah, thanks for noticing mom." Jeremy replied. He gave her a nervous smile and started to get up from his chair. "But, uh, if you'll excuse me. I've got to do something in my…room, right now."

Luckily his mother didn't seem to hear the voice. "Alright, but do me a favor. That watch is very nice and all but maybe you should wear your old watch instead. The new one doesn't suit you that well." His mom asked.

Her son said a quick ok, before adding in a polite thank you and quickly dashed into his room. Once inside, he slammed the door shut and took another look at his watch. It was exactly as he had seen in his dreams.

"_For the last time you primitive twit, it was not a dream!" _the voice exclaimed once more.

Jeremy was taken aback, this time he was sure the voice had come from the watch, because at every syllable it spoke, the circular face of the watch flashed.

"What, who are you?" Jeremy asked, mirroring his question from the previous night.

"_You don't know? I'm-."_ the voice hesitated then finished slyly. "_I'll tell you if you bring me to your nearest computing device."_

The boy didn't notice the sinister tone in the voice's last statement. "Um, okay." He pointed to a grey laptop computer that was resting on a desk. "That's my lapto-."

But the voice cut him off. "_Victory!" _it cried as two coils of jet-black wires jutted out of the watch's sides and launched themselves at the laptop. The wires imbedded themselves into the USB pot of the computer and it and the wires started to crackle with electricity.

"What are you doing?" Jeremy asked in a hushed whisper, not wanting to alert his mother.

The voice laughed at this. _"Why I'm simply answering your question shorty. Even as we speak, I am downloading all your worldly knowledge via your connected network of computing devices and…and." _It paused. "_You do have a network like that, right?"_ Not knowing what else to do, Jeremy nodded in reply."_Good! Anyway, after I'm finished with my download I will have no more use for you. Our partnership will be null and void!"_

"Partnership? You've been on my arm for a few hours." Jeremy asked puzzled.

"_Hm, let me spell this out for you. I don't care. The point is that after I'm done I will officially answer your question." _Shortly after saying this, the crackling wires detached themselves from the laptop and retracted back into the watch. "_There! Finished! Now before I turn your body into my new vessel of destruction I will tell you who I am; You're new future ruler! Hahaha!" _it laughed evilly. "_Say goodbye to your ability to think and act on your own accord. Bwahahahahaha!"_ Based on what he had seen in Sci-fi movies, he half expected the watch to destroy his brain, crawl up his arm, make his insides melt or totally encase his body in a cocoon or something like that. But it didn't, it just made a sound like it was shorting out and clung onto his wrist like it had done all morning. "_What's wrong?"_ this was clearly not what the voice intended to happen. "_Why haven't you been turned to a drooling sack of protein and why haven't you transformed into my magnificent form? Why!" _

"Maybe the watch was damaged by the crash?" Jeremy offered nervously.

Apparently insulted at this suggestion, the voice answered back. "_Impossible, this device is the ultimate weapon of war. It is without flaw!"_

"_Actually I wholeheartedly believe that the boy may be right."_ Another voice piped in. The new voice sounded polite, gentlemanlike, rational and strangely enough, British. It also came from the watch as the face blinked when it spoke.

"_Silence, you're the fool who got us crashed here in the first place!" _the raspy voice snapped.

Jeremy now knew that if he was going to find out more about the 'watch', he might as well ask the voice that sounded sane. "Say, 2nd voice." In even his loneliest of moments Jeremy had never conversed with a watch before. He scratched his head awkwardly. "Could you tell me more about this watch?"

He didn't know what to expect. This new voice could've been as crazy as the first. But it replied pleasantly. "_Why sure old boy. Would you prefer the long, detailed edition of the capabilities of this device or would you like the short version?"_

As much as he wanted to, Jeremy couldn't spend the entire day in his room listening to the device. He was about to ask for the short version when the raspy voice interrupted. "_What are you doing? You're not supposed to give information to the host. He must remain as ignorant and oblivious to the fact he's being used for galactic conquest!" _it scolded.

Upon this, Jeremy exclaimed. "Wait, what? Never mind. I'd like the short version." He wanted to get the info before things got any weirder than they already were.

The polite voice answered. _"Well your going to miss out on some key details but here it goes…"_

**Meanwhile: In the depths of space….**

The planet that came up on the ship's viewscreen was wondrous. A blue sphere with curling clouds of vapor and luscious landmasses. This planet, this Earth was truly the only gem of life in its solar system.

The hunter sighed when he saw the image. "So that's where you're hiding… Nice place, shame I might have to destroy a city or two." He said as he set his autopilot to make a course for this unfortunate planet, this unfortunate Earth.

**Back on Earth**

By now, Jeremy was already outside his apartment building staring at the watch intently. The gentlemanly voice had given him a run-through o what the watch was. But he still felt that he was being kept in the dark about something. "So you're saying…er" he still hadn't gotten around to asking his name. "…Mr. Voice, that this device can turn me into some kind of other creature if I press this square button." He motioned to the square button beneath the watch's circular face. "Turn the dial when it pops up and push it down."

"_For goodness' sake yes!"_ The raspy voice interjected. _"Are you a being of consistently short bursts of intellect? Yes!"_

"Sounds, cool. But that's it?" Jeremy asked.

"_Yes!"_

"So there's nothing you're not telling me?"

"_Ye-Um, well there might be a few details we skimmed, but-er-uh-."_

The gentleman persona in the watch must've pushed his raspy-voiced counterpart aside as he answered next. _"Yes you're perfectly well informed old boy."_ He said nervously. _"Just give it a press, then a twist, then a push. I'll even help you through your first attempt."_

After much thought, Jeremy decided to give it a try. He had already pressed the button and was about to press the dial when… "Whoops," he realized that a kid morphing into an unworldly creature in the middle of a crowded sidewalk could cause a really, really big panic before they came running back with torches and pitchforks. "Maybe I should do this somewhere where no one can see me." Making sure no one was looking, he quickly ducked behind a nearby tool shed before looking at the clock face again.

On the pale white face of the dial was a silhouette of something that resembled a human that was standing upright, albeit a bald one with craggy shoulders and bulky forearms and legs. "_Ah, try that one mate. It's my form and in this way I can help you understand its perks better than the others if you catch my drift."_

The owner of the raspy voice was clearly against this decision. _"Silence frost head! Don't listen to this foolish fool! Pick my magnificent form and I assure you, victory will be ours as I wipe clean the minds of our foes and the pathetic resistance that is to come after we conquer this solar system!" _

But Jeremy remained unmoved at this offer. "You tried to take over my body, remember?" There was no answer. "Well, here goes nothing." Jeremy felt like it was an eternity before he put his hand on the red-white dial. It would've rested there for a few minutes, maybe even hours, but some strange force as well as his sheer curiosity compelled him to press it and so he did.

If anyone had witnessed the transformation, they would've seen a 10-year-old boy being covered completely with a thick, rocky azure layer of ice. They would then see the ice encasing the boy began to crack and seemingly have a mind of its own as it began to shape itself into its desired form. Afterwards, this new creature would begin to walk out of its previous hiding place and then stop at the nearest reflective surface; a shop window. But no one was watching, except the boy inside the ice.

"I'm covered with ice!" Jeremy observed with amazement at his new reflection. The form that was staring back at him on the shop window was indeed some kind of strange ice covered being. It had large rocky forearms and legs that contrasted to its normal sized upper arms and legs. The icy hands of said rocky forearms looked like they had come straight out of a sci-fi robot's design, resembling blocky metallic gloves. Its torso was composed of a large cube of blue ice with craggy shoulders that resembled miniature mountains, stacked on an upright tube-like ice prism which the legs were attached to. Finally he now looked like he was wearing one of those mouth-less masks with dark blue lenses that he sometimes saw superheroes wear in comic books. The creature looked just like in the silhouette and wore a belt around its waist with the watch's symbol on the buckle. Not to mention he was three feet taller to boot.

"_Not exactly mate. You're now made of ice." _The gentlemanly voice (who Jeremy now knew as the ice creature's) corrected. "_I come from a very, very cold planet you see, more ice than planet in fact. And let's just say my people have found a way to adopt rather well to its weathers." _

Jeremy raised one at his massive forearms to the sunlight and asked. "Really, then what happens if I melt?"

"_Oh, you die." _The ice creature's voice said nonchalantly.

Jeremy quickly retracted his arm. "Okay then, maybe I should use this one when there isn't a very high chance of me melting when I walk down the street."

The gentlemanly voice laughed at this remark. "_You worry to much old boy, if I can withstand the cold, I'm more than prepared to 'take on the heat'. If things get to hot for me, I can…how do I put this, make things a tad more like home. Besides, imagine all the good you can do with this new form's powers."_ Jeremy tried, but so far he couldn't figure out any of its useful abilities. "_Hm, Perhaps I should give you a slight demonstration. Mind giving me a chance at the wheel? Good boy. Now give me a moment to ponder."_

Suddenly, Jeremy lost all control of his body and it started to move under new directions. The ice alien's dark blue eyes scanned the streets. "_Where, oh where can I find the proper target…"_ he wondered.

Just then an old lady screamed for help. The ice creature's/Jeremy's head whipped toward the sound just in time to see a street punk run off with the woman's purse in his right hand. "_Jolly good! What a ripe opportunity this is." _With a powerful leap, the creature landed in front of the thief and stared down at the law-breaker. "Sorry, to interrupt **sir,**" it said aloud, putting much emphasis on the "sir". "But I believe that purse doesn't belong to you. So I think it would be in our best interest if we-."

The thief quickly took out a wicked-looking hunting knife from his pocket and brandished it at the alien. "Back off freak!" he threatened.

The ice creature shook his head and sighed. "You types never learn do you?" The thief made a lunge, but the creature was quicker. It fired a blue stream of energy at the offending hand, knocking the street punk down. Groaning, the thief turned to look at his injured hand and screamed when he saw it was completely incased in ice, still clutching the knife. He released the purse from his other hand and began clutching his frozen appendage in pain. The creature bent down and picked up the dropped purse before it began talking with Jeremy again. _"So, how was that?"_

Jeremy shook off the feelings of nausea that accompanied this out-of body-experience. As it did before, the clockface _"That was great! But what happened? One minute I'm in control, the next, you took over and now I'm in some sort."_

"_Oh think nothing of it, don't worry." _the creature switched control back to Jeremy. _"Now you try. Just aim your hands at that little snoozer and concentrate."_

Jeremy did just that and began to concentrate. "You mean like-." Jeremy began to ask, but he didn't finish this sentence, both because he was surprised that his voice now resembled the aliens and the fact he had launched a large blue stream of energy at the thief, freezing him completely. "Whoops, I think I might've overdone it." Jeremy chuckled nervously.

"_Don't worry, he'll thaw out eventually"_

Jeremy turned to look at the lady he had seen being robbed. She just stood there looking at him. He didn't mind, after all, it wasn't everyday you saw a huge alien made of ice freeze a criminal who had stolen your purse. Jeremy walked towards her slowly, afraid she might run. Luckily, she was rooted to the spot, still staring at him even when he stopped right in front of her. This made Jeremy uncomfortable, but nonetheless he outstretched his arm, the one that held the purloined purse, to its owner. Jeremy struggled to try to say something heroic and dashing but ended up saying. "Um, excuse me miss. But is this your purse?" The woman nodded in reply. "Well that's good. Er, here you are." Hesitantly, the woman took hold of the purse strap and was relieved when the creature let go. "There you are, hope I didn't…you know, drop anything on the way over here."

"Thank you." The woman said in a hoarse whisper.

"Alright then, just go about your day as you normally do." The woman continued to stare at him, like a deer in the headlights. "Will you look at the time, I've got to go somewhere. Uh, Have a nice-."

In a blink off an eye, Jeremy disappeared. The woman thought he had seen him being yanked up to the sky by metallic tentacles. But thought little of it. "That's the last time I leave home without my pepper spray." She mumbled to herself as she made her way home…ignoring the alien spacecraft that was hovering right where the creature stood earlier.

To be continued…


	3. Ten Little Letters Part 3

Pilot: Ten Little Letters Part 3

Author Note: Sorry for the lonnnnnngggg wait. But here it is to those of you who are still even slightly interested in this fic.

P.S. This chapter is going to be quite long to make up for the delay. Plus, I have to ask you in advance not to flame me like a kebab for the pairing in this fic. I mean c'mon, Jeremy's the hero (10 to be precise), he needs a damsel in distress…or something like that. All will be revealed next chapter.

Humans make many sounds in reaction to certain events. Seeing something very cute, a normal person would say; "Awwww…" Witnessing something amazing, a person would go; "Wow." And if one were to be turned into an ice creature by a watch-like alien device and hoisted up into the sky by a pair of metallic tentacles at an alarming suddenness and height, well, Jeremy screaming "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" at said event, pretty much sums up what any person would say in the situation. (with the exception of apathetic pessimists, who would probably say; "Oh.")

If this were a film, the ones sitting in "the" seats of the theatre would no doubt feel Jeremy's distress and feel a great deal of sympathy for the fellow. But the owner of the wicked voice just cackled maniacally at this, and he had the best seats in the house.

Despite not having a mouth, Jeremy could barely speak at this speed. "What-are-you-laughing-at?" he demanded, slowly and forcibly.

"_Forget him!" _the ice creature's voice ordered. "_We have to save-energy-for-after we find out-who is-doing this."_ Unbelievably, the influence of the strain was affecting the watch as well.

And so the steel coils carried him higher and higher, through blankets of clouds and cutting though the choking winds until at last he found himself dangling in front of a rust-bitten spaceship. The ship had definitely seen better days. It was a compact vehicle, once completely silver, but now patches of other metals covering holes n its surface. The cockpit composed of a grey sphere with a window that stretched all around its middle's diameter. Four jagged fins jutted out of its side, slowly curving forward, charred at the tips from blasting countless rounds at foes. But most prominently, what caught Jeremy's eye was the sharp, pointed, conic bow of the ship. That's all he saw, as the tentacles finally released him, hundreds of feet above the ground.

"Got to think fast!" Jeremy's thoughts scrambled. His mind began to race through anything he knew that could help; from his science class to an old comic book he used to read. Then he saw two things; one was the top of a building where he would crash and shatter into a million pieces and two, droplets of melted ice which were coming off his frozen body. "Got to think faster!" But the same thought came to mind; How could the power to freeze objects save him from this? Then he remembered something, an experiment he had tried almost a year ago. He also realized it had rained two days prior and hoped there was still some moisture in the air.

Suddenly, His hands glowed a bright blue and he stared to let loose another ray of frost, only this time, with him as the target. He hastily began to freeze his lower half, encasing it in craggy ice.

"_What are you doing, you brat! The populace might be in the mood for frozen pizza!" _the mad voice exclaimed at this.

"_WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" _the ice creature was also taken aback by this odd action.

After he had completely covered his lower body, Jeremy answered. "About a year ago, we had an experiment at school where we had to drop an cushioned egg from a great height, trying our best not to let the egg crack."

The watch face on his belt was silent for a moment, before it started flashing one more. _"And…er,what happened to the egg?"_

When he reached his upper body, he crossed his arms onto his chest and fired once more. And so as he peered out of his melting, self-made confines and unfortunately remembered how his egg experiment had ended. Jeremy gulped, "It cracked."

(..back at the ship)

Through his visual-enhancement screen, the bounty hunter peered at the alien's makeshift cocoon as it continued to fall towards the roof of a tall building. It was very likely he (or she, he wasn't very certain which) wouldn't survive the impact, even with the extra shielding. But precautions must always be made, he thought, as he pressed that familiar button on his belt and teleported to the ground below.

(cut to the screaming doomed boy…)

The crash wasn't so bad. Jeremy thought. Given, the extra layer of ice shattered the second he hit the ground. But this strange alien form gave him a kind of hardiness and endurance that allowed him to feel next to nothing when his body crashed on the ground before roughly bouncing across the roof. Like a solidified piece of water skipping on stone for a change. No, only a slight feeling of discomfort on his damaged areas. Then as with all good and bad things, the roof came to a halt. Unfortunately, Jeremy did not.

He was sent hurdling over the edge of the building, and anything he could grab onto quickly rushed past his vision. Then, with a brief shout of anger, fear and frustration Jeremy decided to take a page from one of the many falling-off buildings situations he saw on superhero movies. He blasted the side of the building he was facing and directed his beam downwards. Still firing and freezing (rhetorical, no?) he shifted all 270 pounds of his frozen would-be corpse towards his makeshift wall of ice. Hovering next to it a bit before flipping and landing his feet squarely on the path. It felt good to have ground below his feet, he thought. Even when he was still sliding towards the ground at breakneck speeds. Then, like an Olympian skier on a slope, he crouched slightly building up speed, but never once stopping his creation of ice. Almost to the ground now, he thought. He felt nervous, hesitant. Movies were a product of the imagination, so should their physics not be fictional too? To top it all of, it was getting harder and harder to maintain his flow of freezing energy. But all doubt, like some of the ice on his face, melted away into concentration. He couldn't mess up, not now. He still had to apologize for how he acted yesterday…to her. And when the ground was less than a few dozen meters away, he swiftly jerked his arms upward, creating one last ice structure before his ice beams failed him. As mentioned earlier, like an Olympic skier, he soared into the air, off the ramp he had made, propelled by momentum.

Almost instinctively, as if reacting to his thoughts, his feet began to extend in both directions, curving upwards at the ends until they resembled skis. "_Happy landings!"_ Jeremy thought a gentlemanly voice said. The skis were strong; he landed on the sidewalk without incident, carefully weaving his way through the scattering crowds, slowly losing speed, almost to a halt. But he was going fast enough, enough that he couldn't stop himself from crashing into a hotdog stand.

"_Hahahahahahahahaha-oh wait, you're still alive aren't you?" _the raspy voice asked with a bit of disappointment.

Jeremy picked himself up from the toppled pile of hotdogs and cooking oil. "You sound upset." Jeremy sarcastically replied.

"_Hehe-no, actually I'm quite amused at the fear you've displayed." _It snickered before continuing. "_SO much so that it appears you've…discolored your ice."_

Jeremy shook his head to shake off the dizziness. "What are you talking abou-." It was during one of these shakes that he noticed a reflective shop window that gave him a semitransparent reflection of his alien form, now with a yellowed portion of ice around his left midsection. "**Of for the love of-That's cooking oil!" **

He didn't know if his crash landing(s) had driven him mad, but Jeremy swore he saw an odd silhouette on the shop window mouth out the reply: _"Whatever you say…"_

"Okay that's it, I've had it with this thing!" Jeremy looked sown at his frostbitten belt, the red hourglass symbol still radiating a crimson hue. "How do I change ba-." In a flash the ice being had vanished and was replaced with a confused ten-year old. He patted his arms and shoulders to make sure he was in one piece abd nervously glanced sideways. "_I really hope no one saw that!"_ The last thing he wanted was to be some kind of military lab rat.

"_Unfortunately my friend someone did see you."_ The raspy voice well…rasped.

"Really?" Jeremy asked. "Who?" he looked left and right, but most of the pedestrians ad scattered moments ago.

"_If you don't want a quick death…step to your right."_

Jeremy decided to step to his left instead, good choice. As a laser buzz saw had slashed the air where his right wrist was a second ago.

This miss caused the wielder of the weapon to stumble, a stumble which was followed by being tripped by a young, rusty, out of practice, but still quite agile ex-jujitsu student, who was currently running the other direction.

The bounty hunter gave a dramatic, most likely rehearsed groan as he pushed himself up. That was unexpected, not many people could've just toppled him over like that. Either this kid was really good at fighting, or the watch was helping him. As a matter of personal pride he concluded that the Infinitrix was helping him. Now, he was gone, the boy having retreated somewhere in this savage primitive maze of noise and concrete. He could do the whole stalking and hunting routine but then again he had just been taken down by the kid as he was normally, no telling what he could do as one of those monsters. That, and he was tired.

A few button taps later and his ship was already a few dozen feet above him, hovering there ominously. The hunter turned off the laser saw and took out a small biolet box from his right pocket. He pressed a button on its side and the ship began to transmit an image, telepathically of course, to the minds of every living thing in close proximity of him and his ship. It was a rather explicit image of a large crater, which wouldn't have been so bad if the attached photo didn't come with a video showing how his ship would incinerate the city, ergo the crater. It usually caused mass panic and hysteria but usually flushed the host out into the open.

(in another alley)

The image of the conic bow of the hunter's ship firing a charged bolt of energy that left nothing but ashes where his town had stood, chilled Jeremy to the core.

"What was…that?" he didn't like the idea of talking to the watch, but this was something that he felt only those within it could answer.

"_Call it what you want, peabrain."_ The raspy voice would've smirked if it had a mouth. _"A premonition, an omen, a prediction, or my most preferred definition…a threat."_

"A threat? What, what does this guy want and can he really do that?"

The ice creature's voice inclined. _"He tried to take your arm off child. Isn't it obvious…He wants us." _It gave a sigh"_I'd understand if you'd give the Infinitrix up."_

"_Oh, so I suppose he'd be comfortable with having one hand missing. I'm sure the girls will just love this battlescar." _

"No way."

"_What?" _both voices asked in shock.

Another image went through his mind, the ship was charging its destructive energy sphere. An event that he knew was happening right at that moment. He could hear the hum of its engines and the screech of its charging mechanism from his hiding place.

"I'm not giving this thing up, and I'm not losing my arm." Jeremy took a long hard look on the 'alien' (his mind had gotten around to acknowledging that fact.) watch. With a flick of a button, he could morph into a frost wielding giant and who knows what else. "If I let that psycho take this thing, I have no idea how much harm he could cause." The Infinitrix's usually bright clock face was now dull and barely flickered. "Can I still transform?"

"_No, it will take a few more minutes to recharge."_

He began to walk out of the alley, turning his back on the upturned garbage cans and his fears.

"Where_ are you going?" _A voice said, it was hard to distinguish the two now.

"Try to stop him." Jeremy stated in a matter of factly tone. "I'll try to distract him long enough for this thing to recharge and maybe whatever I turn into will be strong enough to stop that ship."

"_What if you can't?"_

Only 20 minutes separated the city, from the ship's armaments.

"He'll take the watch and hopefully leave this place alone."

"_No…" _Jeremy froze, with one foot still hovering over the ground outside the alley. He had expected both of the voices to protest but was instead greeted with a new complication, another voice. It was different, hushed, quiet, but still another voice.

Once more, just as it did the previous night, the Infintrix's square button pressed down on its own, the watch face popped open, the dial shifted to the silhouette of a tall creature with a gangly arms and a distorted lower body. But as it pressed down, wild bolts of electricity broke free of the telephone pole wires and surged into it, lighting up the device once more as he took on another transformation.

He hadn't changed much, or at least as much as he could tell. He looked like he did a few seconds ago. Funny, he thought he'd have grown to be 1- feet or some-.

"Whoah!" Jeremy exclaimed as he was shot up into the air, before abruptly stopping. He waved his arms about, trying to regain his balance and after almost toppling over, saw that his legs had stretched like he had had a freak growth spurt until he **was** seven feet tall.

"_See?"_ the new voice asked. _"We can change into something different, hide where he can't find us. We can escape."_ It offered.

"Sorry." Jeremy was slowly reverting to his original size. "But no, I'm fighting whether you…Hang on." Jeremy looked at his watch, still glowing. Then looked at the telephone wires where the streams of lightning had come from. "Can this thing leech off of power sources to recharge itself? Like it did when I became this shapeshifter?"

"_Yes. What's your point?" _the raspy voice retorted.

It was risky, but it was a chance he'd have to take as the image of his home and his mom being incinerated became more and more realistic with each second. "How many more of you are there?"

The hushed voice said a reply that made Jeremy cringe. _"Seven."_

"Any of them know how to turn off a doomsday device?" The word doomsday sounded completely ridiculous to Jeremy, but unfortunately accurate given the situation.

The raspy voice was enticed by this offer. _"No, but we have a 'living', breathing one in here if you're interested." _

The offer made Jeremy a bit uneasy, but there was no stopping it now. As more energy was entering the watch through the buildings around him, Jeremy simply said. "It'll have to do."

(15 minutes later…)

**HUMMMM…**

**BOOM!**

**HUMMMM…**

**BANG! BANG!**

**HUMMMM…**

The charging of an energy orb of untold destructive potential is entrancing at first, the gathering of energy and the sheer relentlessness of the charging. But it becomes tedious and a bit more predictable each time you make one. That's why the hunter wasn't fully engrossed by his ship's incredible weapon or even the least bit worried when policemen's bullets and artillery shells pecked at its hull. He could fix that up in a jiffy after his job was done. A little damage was easily overlooked, after all the host was a boy, a tough one, but still a child. The watch had probably driven him mad and would then shape shift in an attempt to escape from him. Afterwards, it would quickly be spotted by his Infiltrionox detector and promptly shot at. Yup, opnly a matter of time, only a matter of-.

**SHHROW!**

Suddenly, a bright blue ball of energy struck his ship. Immedately, the charging process was shut down and the blast caused the still flying ship to bob, precariously sideways, threatening to tip over altogether.

The hunter stared at his ship in shock. Slowly, purposefully though, he stared to turn around to face the creator of the blast. He knew what it was, but the knowledge seemed to pester him all the more. No father than 30 feet it stood, or rather stood on all fours, mouth still agape from firing the energy cannon which it housed in its throat. And the glowing red hourglass Infinitrix symbol on its back. Sighing, the hunter unslung his harpoon gun and carefully adjusted it. "_Well"_ he thought, as he lunged toward the creature

(Interlude: short summary of Shellnor history)

The Shellnors were once large, intelligent; Tetramand sized turtles of great strength and even greater sluggishness. With heavy, tough shells, rough scaly body, muscular arms and legs and heads not unlike those of alligator snapping turtles. They were so incredibly slow that they couldn't even speak normally, the record time of a Shellnor finishing a sentence being 30 minutes. To survive, they somehow evolved to the point where they could actually fire, that's right fire, a bolt of compressed temporal distortions at their prey, trapping them in a pocket dimension of semi-stasis giving the great shelled creatures just enough time to catch tem. To make a long story short, they could fire beams of slow from any part of their bodies. For many years, they would enjoy their place in the universe, slowing things down as they did so they could always catch up with it. Unfortunately, their slow natures made them objects of ridicule throughout the universe, most notably the rival species of blue-skinned reptile who were immune to the effects of their beams. Eventually, decades of abuse led the once-peaceful Shellnors to become mad with the desire for revenge. They disappeared for a time and after nearly a century, returned. Albeit, with solar energy absorbing steel plated shells which also housed a variety of horrifying weapons, hydraulic powered arms and legs (each containing a laser blaster), mechanized heads with glaring glass eyes with matching energy blaster that could take out a starship when fully charged and having tottaly rewritten their DNA so that these features were hardwired (pardon the pun) into them so that future Shellnors would also inherit these. Luckily for the universe and the blue dinosaurs, the Shellnor are still very, very slow.

(End Interlude)

That interlude was something Jeremy could've really wanted to read so to avoid the discovery that apart from the incredibly destructive Magnetic Pulse Ray, the rest of the alien turtle's armament was pretty much useless for this fight. Missiles shot past his charging adversary, grenades fell short, badly aimed laser shots missed their mark, an electronic mine was fired and jumped over. And before he could try to fire another energy ball, an exploding harpoon nicked him in the middle of his shell and toppled him over, incidentally this is another one of their shortcoming the Shellnors forget to fix when they…er…'reinvented' themselves.

The bounty hunter brought his foot down hard on the neck of the metallic turtle. It caused no pain to the creature and only went on to make is leg tremble a bit, but sometimes when you've been in the business where trying to be intimidating is part of the job description, pain slowly becomes less of an issue. "Now, why did you have to go and do that?"

"Do…what?" In this new guise, Jeremy had to practically force the words out of his mouth and without knowing, broke the Shellnor sentence speaking record.

The bounty hunter pointed a thumb at his out of control ship. "I salvaged that ship myself you know." He casually slung his harpoon gun back on his shoulder. "Got a lot of sentimental value it has."

"Re-ally…did…the…city…blasting-feature come with it…or…was…it…your own…personal touch?" He tried to sound defiant, but tt was hard to talk back like this, maybe that's why this guy wasn't made for talking, Jeremy reminded himself, actions and large explosives do speak louder than words.

"Your fault not mine. I would've rooted this whole planet if it meant getting to you." Jeremy's eyes widened as he saw him take out the laser buzzsaw he had tried to use on him earlier. "This would've been easier for me to do if you were, what do you call 'em, human?" He gripped the handle and the saw started to whirr hungrily. "But don't worry, al I have to do is wait and you'll be back to normal." He brought the saw closer the metal turtle's hooked beak. "Then, give me a minute and your life will be normal too."

Anger welled up within Jeremy causing his speech to return to normal. "No, this thing is too dangerous and I'm not going to let some crazy, twisted, evil-."

"EVIL?" The bounty hunter stomped on Jeremy's shell once more, looking as if someone had slapped him in the face. "Heh…' he chuckled bitterly. "I've dedicated my life to stopping those who would use the Infinitrix for evil and the destruction of the Infinitrix itself. DO you know what the Infinitrix is?" Jeremy was dumbfounded by the Hunter's reply and if he was going to make a guess he was never given the opportunity. "It's a device of great and terrible power that corrupts those it chooses as its host.

"A parasitic piece of technology, invading the mind and body of its victims." He brought the blade even closer (if that was possible) to Jeremy's face. "Until there's nothing left."

Jeremy's spirit and the confident tone of his speech began to falter. "But…it tried…and I…am fyyneee.."

"Probably damaged by the crash, but in any case, that's not even the worst of it." The hunter pulled back so he could look down at the transformed boy like a King towering over a peasant. "You know the voices that come from the watch? You know where they come from?" He gave an intentional pause, this news would crush the boy's resolve to fight, as it had done to many others. "They'll probably never remember, but each of those 10 creatures you can turn into, each and every one of them are intergalactic criminals." Despite the fact that Shellnors could no longer express emotion, its eyes were all he needed to see. "That's right boy, you've been wearing a prison on your wrist." The hunter smirked at the shocked expression of the heavily armed, now-revealed, alien convict. "What did you think it would do?" he mocked. "Make you into a superhero or something?"To be continued…


	4. Ten Little Letters Finale

Pilot Episode: Ten Little Letters Finale

Author Note: So this is the final part of the first episode. After reading this, you can submit reviews as to whether or not you'd like to hear more about Jeremy and the aliens the Infinitrix houses. If not well received, I will either create more episodes, regardless or jump right into the creation of a Loneliest Number/Ben 10 crossover story. The decision is up to you, enjoy the show.

P.S. I'm not very good in writing chatroom chat. Sorry.

"What did you think it would do?" he mocked. "Make you into a superhero or something?"

The hunter's words echoed, replayed themselves endlessly in Jeremy's mind. "Nnn…" he started to say, but would he really be telling the truth? "nnn…" At first he had been afraid of his power, thought it made him a freak. But, maybe it was freezing that criminal, or perhaps it was skiing down that building, it might've been when he grew seven feet tall, or maybe saving the city from destruction had genuinely made him think that with this watch. "nnn-I-don't-kn…" he could be a hero. "…ow…"

The hunter looked down at him with a genuinely sympathetic look. "It's always so sad to see someone so young, corrupted by power." The hunter's glove started to beep frantically. "Dang, my ship's on the fritz." Jeremy almost laughed at this rhyme. The hunter pressed a button on his glove and the beeping came to a halt. "I gotta fix it. Why don't you take this opportunity to think about your life?" He said as he reached for the circular panel on his belt. "You know, if you feel like sharing it with a bunch of deranged psychos or not." His fingers brushed the panel, and he was gone.

Jeremy wasn't in the mood for thinking, he'd been thinking the entire day. He'd been thinking of how much a jerk he'd been, how weird the watch was, how to use his freeze ray, how to explain yellow ice was just hotdog grease, how to power up the Infinitrix, how to use his powers and most of all, how to stay alive. He needed a break, he needed to rest, needed to close his eyes for a minute, he needed to-.

The purple glow that shines forth from the electronic brains of all Shellnor's faded till there was nothing behind those glass eyes.

(somewhere…)

Wondering isn't such a departure from thinking, but it's a nice change of pace. For instance, thinking about physics and how confusing it is, is similar to how wondering what makes physics confusing. In both cases, you'll get a headache, but at the very least, wondering sparks one's curiosity.

Jeremy took a sip from a soda he was holding in his hand; it tasted real, sweet, bubbly. He knew it wasn't though, it was a vanilla cola, and he would never buy a vanilla cola, let alone drink one. He took another sip.

Just as he knew that the coaster he put his glass on wasn't real, or the chair he was sitting on wasn't real or the table the coaster was on and the chair was placed in wasn't real. He just knew that they weren't.

And yet, he felt that the three figures in front of him, awkwardly seated, the large ones' hulking forms strained their small plastic chairs and the third's simply slumped on his, were real. He could feel their presence, their eyes looking at him with consciousness, sentience, emotion. That, and nightmares did more than sit in front of you and his imagination wasn't nearly this creative.

"So," Jeremy started, taking another swig from his hated beverage. "When were you planning on telling me this?"

A mechanical tortoise, an oozing changeling and a bulky ice creature stared back at him. "Don't you want to know where you are first?" The changeling whispered.

Jeremy snorted. "Well, you're all here, and I'm not wearing a watch, so therefore we must be in the 'Infinitrix'." The boy was quick to use "quotation mark" hand gestures on that particular word. "Right?"

"Co…" the Shellnor began. "…rrect."

"Please, you have to believe us old boy!" the ice creature pleaded. "We didn't know!" Suddenly, a delighted cackling could be heard. "Well…maybe he did, but the rest of us didn't!" he claimed.

Jeremy smirked. He was impressed with himself, these were probably some of the most bizarre and dangerous creatures he had ever seen. He should've know, he had been them for only a few moments and was already amazed with what they could do. They could kill him a thousand different ways, but he was calm, for the first time in a long time. He casually put his feet on the imaginary table, a mental construct formed from the link between the watch and his mind, crossed his hands on the back of his neck and looked up at the dark sky.

"This has the making of a great weekend." He smiled. "I make a fool of myself at school, my best friend thinks I'm a total jerk, I nearly get killed 3 times in a row, discover I'm carrying a portable prison for super alien criminals who don't even know their own names. And check it." He mockingly tapped his right wrist. "It's only Saturday."

The aliens however, did not see the irony of the situation. The looks on their faces not unlike those of lost, little children. Being lost was something Jeremy could relate to. "You really don't remember who you are?" he asked. The ice creature shook his head, the Shellnor's head started to turn clockwise, and the changeling's face morphed into a monkey's and shook it's simian face as well.

The lad thought of this for a moment, "What's wrong with that hunter's ship?" he wondered out loud, hoping for an answer.

He got one_. "Shields at 20, weapon core meltdown, warp and dimensional drive 0gone haywire…"_

Another alien probably. He sounded smart, he'd get to him later. "Well then…" Jeremy sipped more creamy, sweet illusion soda. "We're going to need help."

Azure wings flapped overhead…

(The hunter's ship…)

"This isn't good." The hunter thought to himself. the energy bolt that Jeremy had shot at the hunter's ship had sent a backlash of energy throughout the vessel. "Weapon systems are fried, controls jammed, and worst of all, that stupid kid's cannon shot broke my warp gate generator!"

A small computer screen to his left sputtered to life, a countdown timer displayed on its face. "And in a matter of moments, my ship will warp to 'who knows where?'" With him on it, he wasn't going to be stuck on this backwater planet. There was only one option left. "I must take the Infinitrix now! If I warp now, I may never get another chance to capture it! I'll take that cursed object with me to the void of space!" He gave his teleportation belt a harsh smack and beamed himself back to where he had left Jeremy, to relinquish him of his burden.

(outside…)

"You've got to be kidding me." There, lay a small, impacted crater in the street where he had toppled and left the cyber reptile just moments before. "This isn't good…How did that kid change so fast?" He looked at the countdown timer on his wrist. "Hrr…just two minutes left before my ship warps! Where is he-?"

"_Right here." _The hunter heard a somber voice, not through his ears, but in his mind before he felt something sharp and very heavy slam into his back. Andin a situation one can only call ironic, the hunter was harshly knocked into the hole he had created.

The hunter whipped around just in time to catch a glimpse at his assailant. To anyone else, it would look like a huge, man-sized eagle with blue feathers that seemed to shift hues where the sun's rays touched them. The feather's themselves, looked hard and sharp, streamlined along their lengths with edges like razors, but each wing flap was done with such grace and precision, that they never harmed their owner. An azure beak, hard as any space rock, below piercing pupiless-yellow eyes that felt as though they were looking at everyone but singling out anyone who glared back, all at the same time. All these incredible traits were lost on the hunter, who only saw the black and red shackle with the hourglass center on its left, grey claw. To him, it was just the Infinitrix, and the fool who wore it in a new set of prison clothes.

He raised his harpoon gun at the beast and fired. The bolt cut through the air. The tip was sharp enough to pierce through even a diamond Petrosapien and its charge was powerful enough to make sure it did so. However, the effectiveness of the watch was only limited by the capabilities of its wielder. And though he was pretty stupid to keep up this fight, Jeremy was nowhere near as stupid as the wielders the hunter had dealt with in the past. The boy, now eagle, halted mid-air and let the spear shoot up in front of him. As it ascended in front of him, the eagle snatched the harpoon by its cylindrical shaft with his beak and immediately brought his wings down, propelling himself upward.

The hunter gave no resistance as his prized weapon was yanked out of his hands. Last time this happened, he had held on, and well…he'd rather not talk about what happened after that. Jeremy, wouldn't have listened anyway, his new form gave him incredible eyesight and even hundreds of feet above the ground, he could make out the countdown timer on the hunter's glove. The eagle had some sort of weird, form of telepathy and he had found out that it was the timer for when the hunter's ship would zap itself to 'Who know's where?'. "_Great." _Jeremy thought as he released the harpoon, letting the alien bolt fall into a nearby river. _"All I have to do is stay up here, and wait till he goes away."_ That's all he had to do, leave the psycho with a plethora of deadly extra-terrestrial minutes alone, for 3 minutes. What could possibly do in two minutes.

The hunter took this moment of incredible personal loss and injury to reflect on the given situation. "What's up with this kid?" he felt his back where the eagle's beak had struck him, a mere bruise, but he'd live. "I'm still alive, he could've finished me right then and there." He looked at his timer, a 2 and a half minutes remaining. "That means he's not a killer." The hunter shielded his eyes as he peered into the bright blue sky, seeing Jeremy circling overhead. "Despite all the opportunities to, he hasn't even tried to run." He looked back his ship, its proud, bio-eradication ray was now nothing more that a pointy piece of metal. "He stopped me from blowing up the city. So he's not a coward either." Less than two minutes remaining. "So could that make him a-?"

Suddenly, the hunter heard something behind him: a high-pitched grunt tinged with the craggy movement of rubble. He turned and saw it was a young girl wearing a green shirt, brown khaki shorts and red and black striped stockings, trying to free an unconscious soldier (who had attempted to destroy the hunter's ship) from a pile of debris. "Must've been knocked back by my defenses." The hunter thought to himself when he saw the pinned soldier. "And that sweet young girl is trying to help this, a total stranger in the midst of a battle. How sweet." The hunter unclipped a small, glowing, metal orb from his belt. 1.5 minutes remaining. "Let's see if the boy, is just as noble." And with that, he flung it at the helpless duo.

(21 seconds earlier…)

Jeremy was getting anxious. From what he had read from his mind, the hunter had decided to go with his ship when it warped to some far-off corner of space. All he had to do now was wait less than 3 minutes until he would have to go back to his ship. "So why am I so nervous?" Talking as this alien was a lot like thinking. He couldn't utter a sound with his beak, instead he could somehow mentally communicate with other beings. "I'm up here and he's down there and-."

"_I despise you." _The raspy voice interrupted.

"-You're not helping."

"_And why should I? You had that fool right where we wanted him and what did you do?" _the voice didn't wait for an answer. _"You gave him a bump on the back! We could've finished him!"_

"Well excuse me for trying to be the good guy here." Jeremy snapped.

"_I hate charitable fools like you and that tiny punk girl, always helping others and-."_

"What girl?"

"_Oh for goodness sake, that girl in the green shirt whose trying to liberate that militia drone from that pile of rubble!" _Despite what it had been doing the whole day, it seemed the voice's owner didn't like being interrupted anymore than Jeremy. _"That featherbrained failure has magnifying vision. Zoom in if you're so curious…Jerk." _

Jeremy looked below him and with a little concentration did manage to get an incredible magnified, close-up view of the street below. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw the girl. He knew her from school, but it thankfully wasn't 'her'. She was trying to help a downed soldier, he'd help her when this was over but…Oh no. The hunter was only a little ways from them. "Maybe he won't notice them." Jeremy said hopefully.

He did and the raspy voice was filled with maniacal delight. _"Oh my, it looks as though he has."_ The hunter unclipped the orb from his belt._ "And look at that, he's unclipping something from his belt."_

"What is that thing?"

"_I don't know, but it's metallic, spherical and oh so tiny. That's never good." _

"It might be nothing, it might be nothing." Jeremy kept telling himself.

"_And looks as though he's going to throw iiiiiiiiitttttttttt_!!!!" the voice screeched as Jeremy's vision had returned to normal and was now in a perilous dive towards the ground.

(Now…)

The girl gave another groan as she tried to pull the really, big and heavy man from under the pile of stone. Why was she here? Why of all things, this had to be her good deed for the day? Saving a hapless goon while spaceships, giant robo turtles and freaky vanishing cowboy wanabees were running lose. This wasn't something she would've done. This was more like something her friend-. And then she saw it, glowing, etched with runes of a completely different language, a little metal orb headed straight for her! After this, she'd wonder if it would've been better if she had let the orb hit her and end her life right then and there, rather than letting some big, blue alien eagle land in front of her and in helping her survive, make her endure the weirdest months she'd ever have in her entire life.

Time seemed to slow for Jeremy, every moment up to that point was becoming crystal clear. He had made a quick landing, blocking the girl from the sphere and was now at the mercy of whatever horrid device lay dormant within it. The orb was so close now, But that didn't matter, the anger within him created from seeing the hunter throw the thing at an innocent and not to mention, kind bystander in the first place gave him something he had thought he had; courage. He then felt a n odd tingling sensation in his right wing, and looked down to see that as if triggered by his rage, the many feathers on his wing were shifting up, down, sideways. Until after many quick, strange interlockings and detachments that all seemed to occur at once, the outside feathers of his wing formed themselves into a brilliant, flexible sheet of blue metal. And in instinct, or on will, Jeremy brought his newly transformed wing in front of him, like a warrior bringing up his shield, and smacked the wicked bead away. And in either luck or skill, the orb hit the hunter, right, in the center of his belt.

(The Hunter's Ship)

The hunter almost laughed when he found himself back in his ship. That boy had been safe and cozy high up in the heavens above and he nearly killed himself trying to reach that girl before thee orb did. Total strangers, and he had pulled out all the stops to save them. _"Not that they were in any real harm."_ He thought. He unclipped a second, identical orb from his belt and with the first, began to roll them in his left hand. "_Galvan stress spheres are very hard to find. But not as hard to find as you kid." _He didn't mind that the kid had made a lucky shot, and he didn't care that he would be sent to some distant part of the cosmos, where he'd be stranded for a long, long time. He was just glad, that at last, after almost a century of strife and destruction. The Infintrix, was finally in good hands.

The government would've had a hard time covering up this fiasco, what with the ship and all. But in a flash, the problem was gone, drifting somewhere out there in the infinite depths of space.

(Later…)  
(Jeremy's Apartment.)

Jeremy was amazed that his laptop was still working, let alone connect to the Web after that the Infinitrix had messed with it earlier that day. That seemed like it was a lifetime away now. And this was probably only the first in many weird adventures to come. If he didn't use the watch properly he could very well end up as deranged as the one who was after it. But before he turned in for the night, there was still one last thing he needed to do before he could start doing this hero thing for real. He had tried calling her on her phone and visiting her at her home, but her parents said she wasn't feeling very well and couldn't see him. So that left one last option: Chatroom

(**Cobelt** has signed in)

Jeremy was very fond of his net identity, but a lot of people didn't seem to get the pun. With the exception of those closest to him.

**cobelt**: hey, luckitty, you there?

Sometimes, he didn't understand why people understood her net name over his. Eventually he stopped trying to.

**cobelt**: hello!

She was going to make him do it, he could tell.

**cobel**t: I know you're owt dere somewhere! Sighz.

The routine, well, what else could he do.

**cobelt**: lol pwn lol pwn kewl lahahahahah lol l33t.

And one of the longest tirades of net language ever written until…

(**luckitten** has signed in)

luckitten: it's luckitten, not kitty.

**cobelt**: glad to see you, sorta, webcam?

He'd rather talk to her face to face for this chat.

**luckitten**: nah, I look terrible, caught a big cold last night.

**cobelt**: Why?

**luckitten**: U

**cobelt**?

**luckitten**: When I left you last night, a freaky meteorite crashed into the same park you went into. When you didn't com out I was about to follow you in, but then the whole place lit on fire! I panicked! I thought you were still inside. Den, poof! Big snowstorm comes out of nowhere, stops the fire and buries me hip deep in snow. Firemen came, no fire, lots of snow, gave me a ride back. Got home, den I had a cold.

**cobelt**: Serious?

He didn't even bother to use netspeak.

**luckitten**: I'll be out for a week.

Jeremy felt relieved that she'd be safe at home for an entire week plenty of time to test his powers. Even though his first use of the Infinitrix was what had made her sick in the first place.

**cobelt**: How's it feel talking to a dead guy?

**luckitten**: haha! I called your mom a little later, she said you'd been in bed for hours. To top it all off, I got grounded by my parents for getting home late. That's a double whammie! You owe me bigtime.

**cobelt**: I'm sorry, lots of weird stuff happened to me today. Lots of weird, crazy stuff. And through it all, it made me realize what a jerk I'd been. I shouldn't have snapped at you and I shouldn't have hid from you either. You're too good a friend and I'm too lousy a companion.

**luckitten**: cobelt, you need to cut yourself some slack. Just remember, what happened last night wasn't your fault. Life does crazy things to sane people. And don't think I'm going to stop being you're friend, just over a little cold. We've been friends since we were 5 and that's how its gonna stay.

"_Yeah."_ Jeremy thought, just friends. He didn't know how long his luck would hold out. The news was always teeming with images of costumed villains and crazed sociopaths. He'd have to face them all sooner or later. He just wished that courage he had gotten when protecting that soldier and that girl was with him now. So he could just tell her what she meant to him. Instead, he typed down the next best thing.

**cobelt**: Thanks Gwen.

The End: Ten Little Letters

Author Note: Didn't see that coming didya? On to the bios.

**Jeremy Diecilly**

**Bio: **Shy, smart and socially inept, Jeremy is or was the typical nice-guy bookworm with a heart of gold and a razor sharp-mind. Don't let his wiry appearance fool you, A previous jujitsu student until an incident with his teacher got him kicked out of the class, Jeremy still retains some of the techniques and moves he had learned during his brief and memorable time there. Coupled with his natural cleverness and sense of righteousness, he makes the worst possible host for a device that is reputed to be the most evil weapon in the galaxy. With the intent of using it for good, instead of evil, Jeremy tries to befriend, tolerate and reform the many different aliens that reside in the Infinitrix. While keeping all of his deepest and precious secrets locked away from them of course.

**Nitrogent**

**Bio: **The planet of Frost-6 is composed completely, if not totally, of ice. After continual drops in temperature and the annual incredible distancing from the sun, the many inhabitants of Frost-6 gradually evolved to the point where they became one with their cold, cold home. As such, any creatures encountered on Frost-6 are simply the ice itself influenced by the genes of the various species. However, the Cryonians, the only sentient life forms on Forst-6, are unique in that they have developed a mastery over ice itself. They are capable of flash freezing virtually anything with a touch, can project 'ice bolts', beams of cold to freeze opponents at varying distances and can gather clomps of cold or frozen liquid to make themselves larger. Also in warmer climates, they have the ability to perpetually regenerate their icy skin, making them the only creatures on Frost-6 capable of interstellar travel without melting. However, for all these abilities and powers, all Cryonians are generally friendly and polite to all creatures stemming from ancient times when friendship and alliances were necessary to survive.

Nitrogent is a powerful Cryonian warrior and a perfect gentleman. Courteous and considerate, he's probably one of the few aliens Jeremy fully trusts. His ice powers have gotten Jeremy and the rest of his fellow inmates out of more than a few scraps. And yet, he's unusually aggressive for a Cryonian as well. And despises oppressors in all shapes and forms. He claims that he does not belong in the Infinitrix, that he was framed, but can you really trust someone who doesn't remember his past.

**Shellshocker**

**Bio: **Once noble, Tetramand-sized tortoises, their ridiculously slow movement and wit made them the laughingstock of the universe. Though gifted with the ability to project temporal distortions that slowed time itself, they were continually overlooked and jeered at, especially by the Kinecelerans, incredibly fast beings that were immune to their powers. Seething with hatred, the Shellnors disappeared for almost a century before returning as incredibly, destructive mechanized versions of themselves, armed to the teeth with hi-tech weaponry. One is an army in itself and in a group they can bring ruin and destruction to entire cities. No one knows how they did it, and neither do they but that doesn't stop them from trying to destroy all those species, (kinecelearans especially) who ever made fun of them and the list goes on and on. Fortunately, the Shellnor's are still ridiculously slow, and it usually takes them a long time to move from place to place. They're also totally helpless if you somehow manage to knock them on their backs. The best way to handle a toppled Shellnor is to go around it.

The Shellnor in the Infinitrix is surprisingly the least threatening and annoying of the aliens. Because it takes him so long to utter one word that by the time he tries to give advice or criticism, everyone simply isn't listening anymore. Still retaining his racial hatred for all things that would mock or go faster than him, Jeremy is doing his best to make Shellshocker understand that blowing stuff up, though fun, isn't always the answer. It sure beats comfort food though.

**Primorphial**

**Bio: **In a world primarily inhabited by flying creatures, the ground-based Genusites can be seen as the product of an evolutionary joke, slimy, barely humanoid, almost liquid creatures. All these ooze-like creatures have to defend themselves are a pair of incredibly sharp blades they have for arms. Their primary method of survival is to use their unstable genes to transforms themselves into a variety of creatures and object they had either seen or touched. Though capable of mimicking by sight, they prefer to get a genetic sample of their intended target to better their imitations. They can retain everything they had ever transformed into and can change into those forms at will. Bitter from being written off as puddles of purple ooze during their first sighting, they enjoy using their talents for acts of sabotage and espionage. SO even though they were deemed pathetic the first time seen, its been a while since a Genusite has been seen in its true form.

Due to his amazing shape changing abilities, Jeremy uses Primorhial for times he needs to sneak into a facility or when he feels the need to escape from a dangerous situation. A tad meek and cowardly, Primorphial is almost always willing to share his body with Jeremy's mind. The boy could be Primorphial for hours while still looking like himself. Like all Genusites, Primorphial can change his size, shape and face. However he has serious identity issues and always conceals his face with another guise he deems more attractive than his true from.

**Cobolt **

**Bio: **Avesans are large man-sized eagles who fly through space, having no home planet to speak of. Perplexing almost every scientist that has ever examined them, these majestic creatures are capable of flying through the aimless, airless depths of space. Their feather color (blue) varies in tones depending on how much sunlight hits a given area. Sunlight is essential as it is their main source of nutrition and locomotion. Their feathers can also be used as weapons as space has caused them to harden and develop unique properties unlike that of any other bird, they can not only use air to propel themselves but sunlight as well. Thus said, they can even absorb far-off radiation from distant stars or amplify a moon's rays to keep them going. Their speed can rival that of most starfighters and their bodies can plow through most space debris they come across, making them unfortunate subjects to military research and exploitation. Despite they're being no gravity in space, Avesans bone and muscle structure can adapt to almost any planet's gravitational conditions. Asides from flight, Avesans, lacking sound in space, communicate telepathically with other beings and their ability to see has increased tenfold but this lack of sound has also caused them to go deaf. And because they are born and raised in space, they are susceptible to a multitude of diseases on whatever planet they land on.

Cobolt is one of the most reliable and possibly sanest alien in the Infinitrix. Though lacking true sentience, his feelings of calm and almost observer-like view of things help Jeremy handle the stress of flying through roofed rooms and tight spaces. However, in addition to being totally petrified when near water, Cobolt's telepathic powers take a while to wear off even after Jeremy's returned to human form. There's nothing more embarrassing than wearing your shirt backwards to school, except accidentally sending a telepathic message that you did the same thing with your underwear to your entire class that is.

Author Note: That's all for this year. Keep sending your suggestions, comments and whatever else you want to say via pressing that little go button near the bottom left corner of the screen when it says 'Submit Review', put in all your misc. information and comments and finally submitting the form/review. Come on guys its Christmas! Happy Holidays.


	5. Head Games

Episode Two: Head Games

Episode Summary: Jeremy must work with maniacal, mind-reading Infinitrix alien Alpha, in order to combat an even more sinister evil that threatens the safety of a little girl and somehow, the world itself. But can he control him long enough to help him save mankind, before Alpha decides to rule it instead?

Author Note: Due to a lack of positive feedback of the pilot, I might only extend the duration of this fic to the point where all 10 alien personalities are showcased. There will still be bios and information updates at the end of each episode. But only if time alots, will I be able to delve deeper into the weird world of Jeremy Diecilly and the various menaces, new and old, he will face. But this is all too negative, it's a new year, and I look forward to writing more and more. Enjoy!

"Here you go Dennis." The old man said as he slid 3 packs of small cassettes across the counter. "The usual."

'Dennis' looked through the pile of miniature tapes and when she was certain everything was there, handed an envelope to the cashier. "Thanks."

The shopkeeper put the envelope away, there was no need to count the money. It was always there. "You know, if you like making videos so much, why don't you go digital? Lot more high tech and easier to use." He offered. "You make a mistake and poof, you can remove it in 3 seconds flat."

'Dennis' took time to look around her previously, beloved camera shop. Awhile back, the shelves had been filled with different kinds of bulky, black cameras and camcorders, film packs and lenses. When her mom needed to do something at the bank, they'd drop by here to get developed pictures or buy extra film if she had been good that week. Now, it was all digital cameras. As the pricetags rose, the size of everything seemed to drop. Hundreds of moments and motions could be put in a tiny little memory card. The place once smelled like a darkroom, now, nothing. She missed that smell.

"Well," she began. "These days, you get to see what everything will look like the moment you get your pictures printed. You don't need accuracy anymore, just consistency. You don't have to worry about wasting film if you made a stupid mistake. Me?" she was halfway out the door before she finished. "I happen to enjoy working under pressure." Then she left, leaving a bemused, old cashier and his digital buffet, behind.

Denise was grinning when she walked out of the sore, but that grin was gradually began to fall. It wasn't the digital cameras and memory sticks that were bothering here. For the longest time, she had been suffering a terrible case of writer's block. Sure she was ten at the moment, but if she managed to get something published then it was a scholarship in the bag! But, she wasn't afraid that the block would stay forever. Oh, no, things like this always passed. "_I'm losing my storytelling skills."_ She thought to herself. _"A spaceship, the city almost gets blown up, and those freaky aliens almost kill me!" _The media paid little attention to that incident from two days ago. But she knew that the city had been in danger, just as she knew that freaky eagle thing had saved her. "_And after that near-death experience, I get home to my computer, ready to write down an epic for the ages and what happens?" _she grumbled to herself. Recalling how her fingers hovering just centimeters from the keyboard, frozen. "_I can't think of anything to write!" _She started rummaging in her pockets till she found a small video camcorder. "_That's what I love about film, all you get sometimes is one shot, to capture a moment that's unforgettable." _She slid one of her newly purchased tapes inside the camera and clicked it shut. So as she passed the bank where her mother used to go to years before, she just wished she could get another chance. _"Chances to be close to something like that eagle. Near inspiration, just to see if I can try to capture it bette-."_

And that's when the bank doors were forced open with a burst of orange flame and several large figures in black biker uniforms made off with big black duffel bags of what was assumingly cash. Denise was quick to conceal herself behind a nearby mailbox, she hugged her knees to her chest trying to make herself as small as possible and attempted to stop herself from hyperventilating as her breathing became more and more rapid.

But Denise's camera remained lifeless.

She remembered this particular band of thieves from the news. They were a band of heavyset and muscular women who made it their mission to show that women could be just as ruthless as men. Still, the lens cap was fixedly screwed. They dealt in the arms race as well and carried around rifles that could shoot out bolts of destructive energy, heavy as they were deadly.

No hum of a recording was being made.

That's because she knew they weren't worth a millimeter of her film. To Denise, they were just a bunch of out of control, sociopaths who were more of drama queens than radical feminists who drank way too many protein shakes. Always trying to catch the attention of the media to get some screen time to broadcast a point that was now defunct. No, it may have looked like she was setting her standards a little too high, but she needed to film something amazing, something spectacular.

"Sssssssssssssss-." 

"What the heck was that?" for a brief moment, Denise thought she had heard something hiss. It was a faint hissing, barely a flicker, but still, she hoped that it was al in her head. She hated snakes.

(somewhere…)

"_Is all this drama necessary?" _a raspy voice that sounded like it belonged to some sinister being asked.

"_Alpha,"_ Jeremy replied, using the voice's supposed name. _"This isn't the time." _He had seen the gang enter the bank, guns blazing. He couldn't nearly fit in the bank in this mode but he made sure that they wouldn't be going anywhere after they left. And yet, all great plans have their kinks. "_I've got to be careful, stealthy. They're well armed and I need to be quiet to pull this off." _They were in his vision now, he quietly slithered further, just a few meters now. His stomach gurgled.

(Denise…)

Strangely the gang came to a halt at a solitary parking meter. Strange that the gang should've been making its getaway by then and the fact they were scratching their helmeted heads as they looked at the empty, black lot.

"Boss, what happened to our hogs?" Denise heard one of them say.

"Hrrr-." One of them growled, punching the parking meter in frustration, sending the bent rod of metal and a dozen quarters laying in the sidewalk. "We've been robbed! Luckily, I had Jo stash the other bikes around the curb. We'll just have to squeeze in-."

"Ssssssssssss."

"What was that?" Another thug asked. They turned around and saw it, and so did Denise.

Denise quickly whipped out her camera, popping off the lensecap and started to record. One of the most dangerous and violent female gangs in history were staring, stunned, at the sight of a really big, orange anaconda that was looking down at them. Noted, looking down at them.

The anaconda must've been at least 20 meters long. From where she was, Denise guessed it was about a foot and a half thick. Blue streaks and markings were patterned about its back and sides. Its large head had two yellow eyes with elliptical pupils, like a cat's, and in the middle of its great forehead lay a glowing red symbol with an hourglass-esque icon etched in its center, set on top of two slits that were probably its nostrils. The beast's mouth remained closed, two fangs protruding from its upper lip.

Though if you somehow found his secret and asked him if he ever had fun as any of the aliens, namely the snake, Jeremy would staunchly reply that he hated not having legs or arms, the lowering of intelligence that seemed to come from simply transforming into the giant python and would compare control of movement to trying to steer a rusty monster truck. However their were times, when the ability to swallow large objects whole became quite useful…and even fun.

Jeremy peered down at the gang, no doubt they wanted their bikes back, they'd get them allright. He already felt something being pushed up his long throat. And with a sick cough, spat out three, black and heavily digested motorbikes right in front of their previous owners.

The bikers looked down at their acid-ridden bikes and looked back at the reptile.

The watch face flashed, hearing the python talk wasn't a particularly pleasing experience. "That was a warning, now if you'll come along quietly and return the mone-."

Hearing a ten-year-old's voice come out of a huge alien snake was the last straw. "Shoot it! Shoot it!" One of the gang cried, and they did.

A good thing about the snake though, was that it's body was made entirely of strong, rubbery muscle. Making it easy for Jeremy to control the massive serpent, bending its huge bulk so it dodged the gang's shots easily, slowly inching himself towards the group of hapless criminals. Jeremy proceeded to wrap himself around 4 of the bikers, pinning their weapons and bags to their sides or at odd angles and wrested the rest of the bags from those that weren't in his tightening, limbless grip.

3 of the bikers could only watch as their fellow 'warrior women', leader included, were being trapped by this giant snake.

"Jo-." The leader rasped as she felt herself loosing consiousness. "Do something…"

It always came down to her. Jo thought. She always had to bail the gang out when they got in to deep. Well, she thought as she put her blaster to max power, after this, she'd be in charge. The anaconda lunged, and was shot right in its nose at point blank range.

Jo blinked, there wasn't even a scratch on the freak. "Screw it. Run!" she darted past her remaing partners and crime and seeing that all the blast did was cause the fanged horror to dizzily sway a bit, they joined her.

"Cowards…" their former leader spat, before passing from the pressure.

Though still reeling from the shot, Jeremy made sure to release his captives after he was certain they were all knocked out cold. He gave a silent sigh of relief.

"_Good thing I practiced using Brawnaconda yesterday." _He thought. "_Otherwise who knows, I could've crushed these guys."_

"_Oh yes, that would've an unfortunate loss," _Alpha interjected._ "Four less large, homicidal females in the world. What a pity." _He finished, sarcastically.

Over the last two days, Jeremy had acquired the powers of 4 more aliens after a few twists of the watch and a couple of near-death experiences. Simultaneously, he had also managed to keep his conversations with their personalities, silent to surrounding people. Unless he wished to talk with them with his normal voice, something he did with Shellshocker **a lot. **The watch faced still blinked when they talked though. What he still couldn't figure out was Alpha. Though the maniac had seemed eager to come out of the watch, he had been unusually inaccessible to Jeremy. He never seemed to be part of the selection of aliens the Infinitrix displayed either. And only his voice, never his form was sensed in that strange pocket dimension within the device. All he got out of it was his Alpha's name, something the madman insisted was true. But still the mystery remained.

And now…and now he felt real tired. That shot must've really hit him hard, it hit part of the watchface on Brawnaconda's forehead, so that stored some excess energy, but he still felt really woozy. And then as he found himself rubbing his eyes in an effort to stay awake, did he realize that he was back in the Infintrix and was no longer in control of Brawnaconda or the terrible strength he wielded.

Jeremy watched in horror, looking through the snake's eyes as he it randomly shuffled from one side of the road to the next. Brawnaconda was one of the strongest aliens in the watch, able to crush and swallow almost anything he came across. He just hoped that he didn't see anybody before the watch's power ran out. Otherwise, well, let's just say that Jeremy wasn't looking forward to a second breakfast.

Just 5 more minutes, suddenly he saw herm a girl, with a video camera no less. Dang. Why wasn't time ever on his side? Jeremy tried to wrest control from the dimwitted reptile but to no avail. It was like something was blocking him off. Brawnaconda towered over the girl, much like what he had done to the biker gang. The girl just raised her camera to match his rising movement. Jeremy thought he could hear wicked laughter in the distance. Then Brawnaconda opened its great mouth, revealing its four sharp, knifelike fangs, saliva oozing with acid. This was it, Jeremy thought, might as well get it over with.

"Heyyyyyy…" Brawnaconda greeted.

Denise was taken aback, this thing had taken down a motor gang moments before and now it was…saying 'hey'? "Umm…hi."

"I knowz you." Jeremy sighed, Brawnaconda's voice was a bit embarrassing to speak with. It was slurred with 's' sounds and was awkwardly childlike, it really ruined his threatening image. At least he didn't go around hurting people though. "You that girl Cobolt sssaved. You niccceeee."

"Cobolt?" Denise brought the camera down and peered at the alien snake. "The weird eagle from 2 days ago?" She looked closely at the emblem on Brawnaconda's forehead. It was the same symbol that was on the eagle's bracelet! Could they be connected?

"Am I on tv?" Brawnaconda asked excitedly. "I like tv, HI Chemmy's ma!"

"What?" the girl asked, that sounded like a name, a name of someone she knew.

Jeremy gave a quick thank you to the forces above that Brawnaconda had mispronounced his name and finally took back control of the extra-terrestrial reptile. He hastily slithered off, only minutes remaining until his secret was blown. But not before bumping a lampost, leaving Denise, perplexed, with her camera still running.

(elsewhere…)

"_Accursed man-women!"_ a voice spat as he replayed footage of Jo fleeing from Brawnaconda. "_I give them technology to level a building and they flee from a stupid Crushiss!" _Another screen showed said snake ramming into a lamppost after talking to Denise. "_A very stupid Crushiss at that! And that symbol on its forehead." _The screen zoomed in on his head, the Infinitrix symbol inexpicably fuzzy for some reason. _"Bah! IT doesn't matter! It'll take more than a mere dirt snake and nine other has beens to stop me." _The two screens merged into one large screen which showed an amusement park, with booths, and rides and children smiling…for now. "_None can match my intellect! Soon this pitiful world shall bow down to me! Very." _The screen zoomed into one child in particular. "_Very soon."_

To be continued…

Author Note: I finished writing this New Year's Morning. Happy Holidays! Dun dun dun!


	6. Head Games Part 2

Episode Two: Head Games Part 2

Author Note: Thank you for all your wonderful comments and suggestions. And to all those that wish to see Ben and Jeremy meet, well keep in mind that this piece of fanfiction is set before Gwen's fateful exodus with her mischievous cousin and globetrotting grandfather. The two watch wielders will meet in 'Counterparts' (title in progress), and not to spoil anything but lets just say that Jeremy thought Gwen would be safe with her Grandfather for the summer and when he finds out she's been in near constant danger, he's-errr…less than thrilled at this discovery. Coupled with the two protagonists contrasting attitudes, the result won't be…pretty. But I'll get right on that during the completion of **Head Games** and the creation of 4 more episodes (don't worry, in an ironic twist, they'll be shorter than the pilot); **Deep Secrets**, **Gwen and the 10th**, **Worth a Thousand Words **and **Fire and Vice.** Guest Starring: Lt. Steel, Joey/Rojo (previous chapter), Charmcaster and many more. I'd do more, but I'll have to see whether your reactions are favorable. Enjoy the Show.

The hotdog vendor stared at the wiry, 10 year-old boy like he had grown another arm.

Jeremy hated that look.

"What did you want on your hotdog again?" the vendor asked, he hadn't sold a dog all day and this just sounded…weird.

Jeremy sighed. "Okay, one more time, I'll have a foot long hotdog on a sesame seed bun with mustard, ketchup, bacon bits, cheese sauce, relish, onions, peppers, pickles, tomato wedges and please, by all that's good, no mayonnaise." Jeremy shuddered at the thought of forcing that white, creamy substance down his throat.

The vendor briefly recounted all the toppings, and setting the mayonnaise aside, started to construct the complicated and to his delight, pricey sandwich. Suddenly, there was a rumble that could've shaken the fair that almost made him drop the bun.

"Actually," Jeremy said, giving his stomach a disappointed look. "Maybe I'll have two of those and a large soda." The vendor thought he had died and gone to heaven. "You got any churros?"

In 3 almost inhuman bites, the first "Everything-On-It" was as good as gone. Jeremy tried to pace himself on the second but that was gone by the time he got the soda. "So this is the price of heroism," Jeremy thought as he threw the crumpled plastic cup into a garbage bin. "A full stomach and an empty wallet." Transforming into Brawnaconda, Nitrogent or any of the aliens drained him of **a lot** of energy and he found himself eating snacks by the meal and drinks by the Big Glug. And twenty bucks a week, only got you so far.

"_Though you didn't have any arms, Brawnaconda could've made off with a couple of bags of cold hard cash in his mouth." _Alpha laughed. Though the Infinitrix had disguised itself in the form of Jeremy's normal watch, its face still flashed when anyone inside it chose to speak. _"But no, you leave the bags and even hang around till the bank guards get their spines back and carry them right back into the vault. All that money. Think of the buffets you could've terrorized!"_

"_Quiet."_ Jeremy thought.

"_Hey, you're the one that gave a sliver of hope to that hotdog vendor. Did you see his face when you ate those hotdogs?"_

Smalltalk, Jeremy observed. Just like what he was doing before Brawnaconda went 'wild'. "Alpha, we need to talk."

"_You told me to be quiet." _

"I'll ignore that. Back at the bank, I lost control of Brawnaconda, and I know that you had something to do with it." Jeremy felt odd, all of a sudden, like he was being watched.

"_Oh that, well, isn't it obvious? I'm getting stronger." _Alpha sniggered. _"By the way, think fast!"_

Suddenly, Jeremy felt something cold and wet hit his back. He whipped around and saw a little boy with a water pistol, laughing. The boy pointed at him as he laughed and promptly ran away.

Jeremy was trying very hard not to chase after the boy and pounce on him. He hated being laughed at, mocked. Little jer-. "_Roger Wheys, puppy died yesterday." _ Alpha announced.

Poor kid…wait. "How, how do you-."

"_Know? Jeremy its my business to know." _If Jeremy's watch had had a mouth, it would've been grinning. _"Just as I know that the lady at the right of you wants to host her own cooking show, and that man in the rotty clothes running towards you has stolen a clown's gold watch." _

True enough there was a man with a tattered jacket, torn jeans and baseball cap running towards Jeremy. He quickly jumped out of his way and stuck out his leg, tripping the man who unable to stop, ended up falling face first in a cotton candy mixer. As Jeremy and the crowd gave a hearty laugh as the man struggled to get out of his sticky situation, the boy saw something gold glint in the sunlight. "Okay," Jeremy admitted as he picked up the watch. "But this still doesn't prove that a clown owns this thing."

"Hey kid!" Jeremy turned to see someone that looked like a buff Pagliacci staring down at him. "Saw what you did to that punk, classic comedy." Mouth agape, Jeremy handed the watch back to the clown. "Thanks," the big clown marched to the cotton candy machine when the thief had just gotten himself out and shoved him back in there.

"_Talk about sweet revenge!" _Nitrogent gave on of his cultured chuckles. _"You have to watch yourself around these circus folk it seems."_

"_Rick Sohay, moonlights as a fast food drone." _Alpha observed as Rick proceeded to further drown the thief in cotton candy.

"How are you doing this?" Jeremy demanded.

"Easy," Rick replied as he paid the cotton candy vendor, still holding the squirming pickpocket. "Just get him in there and press down…real hard!"

"_Wait." _Jeremy gulped. He didn't think that, he had said it. Come to think of it, his replies to Alpha had been pretty loud and people had been…staring at him. Oh no, it looked like he had been talking to himself for the last five minutes.

Leaving the growing crowd and Rick to their own devices, Jeremy stomped off, with a distinct laughter filling his ear. Alpha had goaded him to talking out loud! How was this happening? He passed by a game booth with three stacks of glass bottles he could knock over to get a prize and deciding to relieve some stress, gave what was left of his money to the manager. He tossed the plastic ball up a couple of times and threw it with all his strength, shattering one of the three bottles and scattering the rest. But the ball didn't even touch the ground. Jeremy saw it just hang in the air, a centimeter above the ground, encased in some sort of white energy. The ball then started bouncing rapidly around the room, ricocheting off the counter, some of the hanged prizes before finally crashing into the other stacks of bottles. He recalled the manager nervously handing him a small stuffed cat before he ran off.

"Alpha." Jeremy hissed as he briskly walked through the crowd.

"_What, you got a prize didn't you?" _

Jeremy was starting to get nervous.If Alpha could do that while still in the watch, who knows what he could do outside of it?

"_Plenty."_

"In that case." Jeremy whispered. "You can forget about me picking you."

"_Larry Snails, hates escargot. Molly Tessa, enjoys spelunking."_ Alpha said as he saw a man and a woman together.

What was he doing? Jeremy thought.

"_Jack Fin, needs to lose 7 pounds. Henry Yeul, insomniac. Walt Snide, loves pedicures." _He continued on with his tirade of the private lives of these fairgoers.

Oh no, he'd keep on doing this until…"Stop."

"_Hehe, Yvek Reed, doesn't like to wash hands. Jenna Ettle, wonders why there's soap in soap opera. I don't know about you kid but I never get headaches like the one you're having."_

True enough, all this info was starting to make Jeremy's head hurt, he clutched his head in frustration. "I said stop it!"

"_Tim Renald, doesn't remember how he got here. Ralt No, about to kidnap Merry Serno." _Jeremy froze, removing his hands from his scalp; he ducked in an empty tent and pressed the square button on the Infinitrix. _"You heard that didn't you?"_ Alpha whimpered, regretting having revealed that last thought.

The watchface had popped up and Jeremy started to twist it towards the right. _"Hero time I guess?" _Alpha growled, wishing he hadn't warned him of the coming crime.

"You got it." Finding the silhouette of a hunched creature, Jeremy slammed the face down.

Jeremy felt his skin begin to tingle and watched in wonder as the areas between his fingers were becoming webbed and his flesh, a dark blue. His legs lengthened and his calves formed into coils of springy muscle from the knee to his webbed feet. His white eyes yellowed, pupils shifted from blue to black. His facial features contorted till it resembled that of a frog's. During each transformation, his normal clothing ceased to be. Now his arms and legs each had two black bands on their upper and lower areas. And a black sash, with the Infinitrix symbol on its surface, was slung over his shoulder. The wiry blue frog opened his mouth to reveal that its tongue had grown as well, a long, pink lash with a strange second mouth at its tip, lined with sharp, hook-like teeth.

The humanoid amphibian leapt out of the tent, filled with energy, power, awareness, balance and an insatiable hunger for…cheese puffs. "So, when do we eat?" It asked to no one in particular, at least, that's what it looked like to the startled crowd anyway.

"_Later Springshot." _Jeremy pressed his feet onto the ground, hard. Compressing his coiled legs and then released the pressure, propelling himself 25 feet into the air. _"It's been awhile." _He thought as he saw the maze in the distance.

The Magic Fun Maze was hard to miss. It was a badly lit, sloppily painted indoor labyrinth. Occasionally, the walls would shift and close behind those inside of the maze. It was easy to get lost in there.

Jeremy remembered how when he was 7 years old, he had wandered off into the maze and only when he tried to get back outside, did he realize that the hall he had come from had disappeared. He frantically tried to find a way out, but was always met with a dead end and each time he tried to retrace his steps, the maze changed. Eventually he came to the conclusion that he'd be stuck there forever. He was lost, afraid and thought no one would ever find him. That was when his best friend of all people, found him. She wiped the tears from his eyes and sat down with him. He asked her if she knew the way out. She shook her head and he noticed her eyes were red, having cried as well. They both laughed. Then they started to talk, about how dumb it was to have this kind of maze in a children's theme park, how their respective parents would ground them for the rest of their lives once they found out about this. Then they started to talk about what friends usually talk about, was cotton candy really made of cotton, how come the stuff in 3d movies never hit you and how did ants' bites hurt so much?

After awhile, she got sick of just sitting around and practically dragged him throughout the maze. He wanted to stay and wait for someone to find them, but her hand kept a firm grip on his. At first he thought that strange dark things were peering at them from the shadows. But holding her hand made him feel safe and everything started to look a little brighter. Deadends and shadows lost their dark meanings, The walls could shift all they wanted, but they couldn't stop her from leading them out of there. In a flash, she had turned their frightening imprisonment, into an adventure. It felt great, just the two of them exploring this twisting playground. He wished it could go on forever and was almost sad when they saw the exit. They were nearly there but then the path started to close, right in front of them.

He couldn't remember if it had been a few meters or a few feet, everything looked bigger when they were small. The distance didn't matter, the second she saw that panel sliding in she let go of his hand and let her arms fall to her sides. He could feel her frustration, after all that running and wandering they had arrived at the end and now…She looked like she was going to cry. Suddenly, before he even knew what he was doing, he grabbed her hand and rushed towards the closing passage. His heart was beating like crazy, like it was going to explode. But he was excited beyond measure. Though you wouldn't have died if a wall closed on you in the Maze, their edges might as well have been covered with cotton and that still wouldn't have slowed him down. They were almost there. He could feel her grip on his hand, loose and unsure like his had been, suddenly becoming tighter with trust. Almost there, but the panel was halfway done covering the exit…And then-.

"_Oh, that's so sweet." _Alpha mockingly cooed._ "This is where you and your crush get crushed, right? Oh, wait, you're still alive." _

Jeremy quickly stopped thinking about that moment. He didn't want to risk Alpha stealing or destroying his memories. That's what he always had to do, keep some of his deepest and precious secrets under lock and key. And it's always harder to keep secrets when you have 9 alien minds talking with yours all the time, asking for nachos and world domination or whatever the heck they were hungering for.

When he landed, Jeremy quickly hopped towards the maze. Though he was now hooked on junkfood, being Springshot had its benefits. Every successive leap sent him 10 feet forward. He pressed down on his springy legs once more and shot right into the Magic Fun Maze. He didn't waste time going through the changing passages, and leapt on to the edged top of a maze wall, keeping his webbed hands clung onto the walls, keeping his balance as he scanned all the corridors in the maze.

He had seen this, Merry Serno in the news once. Her father was some kind of scientist who worked on something for NASA. From what he had heard, it was nothing really important, he didn't even remember what it was.

Seeing nothing in that part of the maze, he sprang towards the top of another maze wall. He didn't know how long it had been since that Ralt No character came into the building, he needed to keep looking. But a thought kept coming into his head, _"Was Alpha telling the truth?"_

(near Jeremy…)

Merry Serno was young, humming, bubbly and totally oblivious to Jeremy's searching and to the black-clad, stone faced man that had been following her throughout the strangely still corridors. That all changed with a press of the man's watch. As the walls started to move, Merry stopped walking, her humming stopped. Because now she was no longer oblivious to her large, shadowy stalker who she was boxed in with. The man made a move to grab her. She screamed for help, it came.

Jeremy thought that a spring-loaded punch to the jaw would be enough to knock Ralt out. It didn't, because when he punched back, it didn't feel like a punch a dazed hitman would deal. Then again, he had never been hit by a hitman before. The punch caused Jeremy to slam into a maze wall, nearly breaking it.

"_Believe me now?"_ the watch face flashed in question.

Chances were, he wouldn't hear the end of it from Alpha after this was done. Okay, Jeremy thought, that didn't work. Luckily, Springshot's long tongue produced a powerful sedative in its maw, a disturbing ability, though very useful. He lashed at Ralt with his tongue, wrapping it around his arm until it sank its fangs into his shoulder. The drug should've acted immediately, his wrapped arm should've gone slack and he was supposed to have passed out by now. He grabbed Jeremy's stretched tongue. "Crud," Jeremy tried to say. The kidnapper pulled and yanked Springshot towards him. He punched him in the face, sent him flying, and then he pulled on it again, all with one hand. _"This guy must have the strength of 6 men!" _Another punch. _"Okay, make that 7." _Punch._ "8 guys with brass knuckles." _Jeremy corrected, woozily.Punch.After he had punched Springshot a fifth time, he released his tongue and flung the alien frog at the wall. This was a mistake. Springshot feet stuck onto the wall, saving him from crashing a second time. "Get down Merry!" he ordered, as he started to press his feet to the wall.

Springshot sprang at Ralt once more, giving him only a glancing blow. But he didn't stop there. He bounced off of the wall behind Ralt and hit him again, back and forth, back and forth. As he built up speed, the frog started bouncing off the left and right walls as well, taking advantage of the enclosed space. Merry had ducked and had shut her eyes and covered her ears to try to block out the dull, sickening sound of fist meeting with…metal? Ralt tried to grab Jeremy, but he proved to fast for him, he even tried punching him, too proud to admit he was at the mercy of the ricocheting rogue.

Finally, seeing that Ralt was too bruised and disoriented to fight back, Jeremy gave one last push to the maze wall, and slammed right into Ralt, rocketing them through dozens of maze walls before they crashed through the building's outer wall, scattering chunks of glass and concrete onto the fairgrounds.

Jeremy moaned as he tried to get to his feet, he propped himself up on a nearby bench and shaking the dizziness away, looked down at what was once Ralt Serno. Ralt's body was twitching and crackled with volts of electricity, tears in his pant legs revealed a set of steel hydraulics, pumping up and down frantically. If that weren't incriminating enough, part of his face was torn like a piece of paper, showing a metallic, mouthless face underneath with a singe, glowing blue eye.

"That explains a lot."Jeremy groaned, turning his back on the android. He had known of course, otherwise he wouldn't have tried to ram the thug through a cement wall. His resistance to Springshot's first punch and the frog's venom had made him suspicious. But the thing that really clued him off was when Ralt started using him as an alien Tetherball. "Now all I have to do is bring this thing home and find out why it-." There was a faint beeping noise from behind him. "Was-." The beeping was getting louder. He turned around to see a timer had appeared on the robot's faceplate. 14 seconds. "Dang!" Springshot shot out his tongue and hooked onto the soon to explode android. 12 seconds. Jeremy started to spin the damaged robot round and round, his second mouth struggling to keep its hold. 11 seconds. This thing was heavy, swinging it around was getting harder and harder. 10 seconds. He swung him around a few more times and then released. 9 seconds. Sending the damaged mech spiraling into the sky. 8 seconds. 7 seconds. 6 seconds. It wasn't getting the gold for distance. 5 seconds. But for a hammer throw…4 seconds. It would've at least gotten an honorable mention…3 seconds. 2 seconds…For the height.

**BOOM!**

An explosion that could've torn apart a city block was harmlessly set off 2 miles above the ground. The crowd scattered. Confused and panicked by what had occurred they were running for shelter, fearing to be hit by pieces of whatever created that explosion. Only a single piece of the detonated robot survived, crashing right in front of Jeremy. He tried to pick it up, but only succeeded at getting his fingers singed. Instead, he got on all fours and peered closely at the fragment. It was a strip of metal with an ID number attached; R4LT No. 245.

"Ralt huh?" Jeremy snickered.

"_Don't patronize me."_ Alpha fumed.

Getting up, Jeremy noticed a small, black box lying in the grass. "Hey, what's this?" He gingerly touched it's surface. When his finger didn't burst into flames when he touched it, he grasped the box with his webbed fingers and looked at it intently.

"Looks like a message cube." Primorphial whispered from the Infinitrix.

The message cube looked like a metallic black box, with glowing yellow lines across its sides. Ralt must've dropped it when they had fallen out of the maze. There was a small circular hole on the top of the cube. "How does this thing work?" Jeremy asked.

"Accessing." A high-pitched robotic voice from watchface flashed.

"Whoah!" Jeremy cried, as a wire with a metallic prong jutted out of his sash's watchface and plugged itself into the cube's socket.

"_Interesting."_ Alpha observed. _"Hilarious, but interesting."_

After a few seconds, the wire dislodged itself from the cube and retracted back into the alien symbol.

"What? What was it?"

"_Some kind of prank," _The watch blinked._ "Just a few lines of speech in universal dialect." _

"Can I have it in English?"

"_It goes 'We, the people of Earth, wage war on all other lifeforms!' Like your people can fight the countless armies of the galaxy! Believe me, I've tried!" _he laughed. "_I mean they're too busy fighting eachother to actually stand a chance!"_

(later…)

The next few minutes were a bit of a blur for Jeremy. Still as Springshot, he tried to carry Merry back to her home via using his elastic tongue to swing them from place to place. That proved to be a problem, because she started hitting him over and over again, screaming that she wanted the "toad man" to take her home. And since his tongue was occupied at the moment, he had to stop every now and again to ask for direction managing to squeeze out a couple of gargled "ows" each time she hit him. Then when he dropped her off at her house, she gave him 'thank you'…moments before setting a pack of guard dogs upon him.

After escaping form being the world's largest meal of frog legs, Jeremy reverted back to his human form. Tired and hungry, he wound up in a convenience store. He picked out a jumbo pack of crunchy cheese puffs before going to the counter.

"5 bucks, kid." The cashier said.

"Sure." The boy reached for his wallet, before he realized that he had spent the last of his money at the fair. Jeremy slammed his head on the counter in frustration.

"Need help?" a voice asked from behind him.

"Why are so many things happening behind my back?" Jeremy lamented as he lifted his head from the table and turned around once more to see where the voice had come from. Was it another android, another buff clown, another kid in mourning with a water pistol, a thief or…Denise?

His best friend's best friend who was by default, his acquaintance, stood in front of him. Both her left eyebrow and corner of her lop were quirked up, leaving the rest of her face to remain still. Her long, brown hair tied into a ponytail that reached down to the bottom of her green t-shirt, her camera bag slung on her right shoulder. He sometimes wondered if she ever changed her khakis, they all started to look the same after awhile. "Hey Jer, money troubles?"

That was the problem with having a name like Jeremy, limited nicknames. "Hey Denise." Jeremy scratched his head, embarrassed for what he was about to ask. "Can you do me a favor? I'm kind of." A great rumbling sound, like that of a great frog croaking interrupted his sentence.

"I get the picture." By the time he was done looking at his stomach, she had already handed a five dollar bill to the cashier.

After she handed him the bag of cheese puffs, he asked. "So how've you been?" He tore open the plastic bag and started feasting on its contents. "I haven't seen you since Saturday."

Denise started to rummage through her camera bag. "Well now that you mention it I…wait, I didn't see you Saturday."

Jeremy nearly choked. "I meant Firday, I mean Friday!"

"Right." Denise said incredulously, a bit suspicious of Jeremy's double-take. "It started out terrible. I nearly got killed by this weirdo in a trenchcoat, then this cool alien bird flew down and chased him off."

"Wow," Jeremy coughed, noticing that the shopkeeper was looking at them strangely. "It's a shame you couldn't get a picture of it."

"No, but guess what." She asked rhetorically. "This morning I saw this bank being robbed and I got this really cool footage of a giant-."

Crud, the camera! He had forgotten about that! He also remembered how he almost spilled his secret! He needed to distract her somehow, stop her from remembering what Brawnaconda had said to her! "So how's Gwen?" he asked hurriedly, genuinely curious of his sick friend's condition.

Denise stopped rummaging through her bag. "Oh, fine. I was on my way to visit her in fact. Why?" she pointed at him accusingly. "You want to tag along? See how she's doing? Give her a 'get well soon friend hug' that I probably won't be a part of?"

If there was one thing that Denise loved more than amazing, 'once in a lifetime' footage, was poking fun at Jeremy and Gwen's 'friendship'. She even told him she'd write a book about it one day. The first 'comedic-romantic-drama' in history, she'd say. _"Well at least her mind's off the aliens…" _Jeremy thought. "No, I'm a bit too busy for…that." He held up the stuffed, toy cat that Alpha 'helped' him win.

"Jeremy, if you want to pay me back, you know I'm more of a puppy person." Denise laughed.

"No it's not that. I'll pay you later. It's…um, could you…" he did his best not to blush. "Give this to Gwen as a get well-.?"

"Oh Jeremy, how sweet!" she snatched the plush, blue kitten out of his hand and looked at it closely. "Is this from the fair?" she stared at him, her smug grin returning. "Were you trying to get lost in the Maze again?"

"I haven't gotten lost there since I was 7." Jeremy blushed.

"Still," Denise said flatly. "You know she'd find you no matter how old you were." She put the kitten in her bag and started to walk out of the store.

His cheeks losing their rouge, Jeremy was about to put another fistful of cheese puffs into his mouth when a thought came to him. Unlike many girls her age, Denise watched the news and read the newspaper almost everyday. It was a long shot, but maybe she would know why someone would send a cybernetic goon to kidnap Merry Serno.

He'd need to be subtle though. "Denise!" he called out, she was almost out the door when she heard him. "I have this Current Events project coming up about NASA." He lied. "Do you know anything about Professor Serno's field?

Ah, these were moments she lived for, having peers with grade point averages of 4.1 and above ask her how the world was doing. "Yeah, something about radio communications between large portions of space. And also, he was talking about trying to communicate to other intelligent life on other plants and even other galaxies using high powered radio waves that would shorten the waiting time for an answer. I used to think it was bogus but after this weekend, people are going to start taking him more seriously, eh?"

But Jeremy didn't hear that last question. He was lost in thought, trying to figure out why someone would want communication technology. Sure it was strong but what could you do with a…then he remembered the message cube that he had pocketed after his battle at the fair. It sank in. A signal that could pierce through the heart of space and spill onto the receivers of every intelligent life form in the universe in a matter of days. And humanity's first message to their otherworldly brethren? Species with technological and evolutionary capabilities that dwarfed our own?

'_We, the people of Earth, wage war on all other lifeforms!'_

**To be continued…**

Author Note: You didn't really think Denise was going to be a one-time character did you? Well my school's starting soon, so expect the chapter delivery to be a bit sluggish. And I know I said they'd be shorter, but hey, I had a mocha frappuccino and I was on a roll! Thanks for getting this far. O everyone else who just scrolled down to see the ending…I give you a disappointed head shake.


	7. Head Games Part 3

Episode Two: Head Games Part 3

Author Note: Sorry everyone, high-school's been a real pain in the rear lately. But I still hope you'll enjoy this as well as my upcoming Ben 10/Loneliest Number crossover which is one story I'm very sure you'll enjoy. I've also been brushing up on my writing skills to help create a far more dynamic and fluent reading experience. Once again, sorry for the delay.

P.S. Hmmm...changing into a girl...interesting idea.

(Serno Residence, Nightfall)

Professor Serno was the foremost head of deep space communications for NASA's coastal branch. His research had helped further the range of cellphones, radios and even satellite signals worldwide. One of his greatest (though accidental) feats ever accomplished was his ten minute conversation with a somewhat surprised sounding NASA employee using a cheaply designed homemade cell phone he had created, requesting that he ring up someone to help him out of the supply closet. Shortly after, he realized he was talking with the captain of a space shuttle who was halfway to the moon at the time. Currently, he had helped create a prototype space probe that could create signals so powerful, that they had the potential to broadcast themselves throughout the entire galaxy.

_"What about heaven daddy?" _a little voice seemed to echo through his mind.

It was the question his daughter Merry kept asking him. It happened every time she heard him talk about his work. He would then sigh and reply with a strained, lightly sweetened 'maybe'. It wasn't his fault. He used to believe in all those supernatural wonders; ghosts, gods, life after death and such. But as a man of science he became accustomed to the thing that makes spirituals into sceptics; a need for proof. It came to the point where everything could be explained, and if something, whether it be the afterlife or alien life couldn't be backed up by evidence or facts, it was considered idle-minded nonsense. Faith had no place in a world where numbers and systems reigned over people's lives.

He was also on the verge of a paranoia-induced breakdown.

The very idea was crazy, maddeningly unreasonable, and still it persisted. For the last week or so, it felt like someone or something was watching him. It wasn't that he was seeing black shadows dart away just out off his scope vision(though he thoroughly believed it had happened more than once.). What truly frightened him were the footsteps. They were horrid, subtle little things that followed him wherever he went. In his office, on the streets, in the subway, they stalked him. They sounded heavy and were so loud that it sounded as if their owner was stomping the ground instead of walking on it. His peers attributed it to the stress his new project was creating, with the generous funding from a shady 'philanthropist' doing little to lessen the load. Initially he had agreed, but as the device was getting closer to completion the steps began to become louder and louder till he came to the terrible conclusion that there wasn't a single someone watching him anymore.

But now, after months of hard work, the probe was just a day away from completion and with it (he hoped), an end to these eerie echoes that were plaguing his life. And it seemed he was right. The entire week had gone by without a single thud or crunch that usually accompanied his day, he had even felt confident enough to let Merry go the fairgrounds with some of her friends. It had been a long, long time since he had given himself even a brief fraction of a moment to relax and in all life's great irony, did Serno, on this dark street, illuminated by a single streetlight in front of his house, decide to do so.

He was on the point of whistling a merry little tune as he neared the gate of his home, when another Merry thing rushed out to greet him.

"Hi daddy!" Merry smiled, perfectly oblivious to her father's bewildered expression.

"Merry, what are you doing out here?" Professor Serno exclaimed. "Didn't I tell you not to leave the house when it gets this late?"

Merry looked at him with a hurt expression on her face. "But you told me to meet you out here, remember?"

"I…did?"

A black convertible screamed into the street, swerving to a halt in front of the suprised Sernos. The car doors swung open and two stiff, tall, black clad, stone-faced men emerged and started to rush towards them. Serno stared in horror as he heard their boots create heavy metallic footsteps, sounds that were all too familiar to him.

"Merry and Professor Serno, please come with us." One of them said, his voice grating and crackly.

Professor Serno was quick to put himself between the two men and his daughter. "Who are you?"

"Please come with us." The other replied. Though the 'please' sounded more like a warning than a threat.

"I'm-We're doing no such thing! And if you think for a second that-."

"Daddy…" Merry stuttered as she tugged at her father's sleeve.

The men were coming closer. Professor Serno licked his lips and whispered to his daughter. "Merry, you have to run, find a policeman, tell them what's happenin-."

"Daddy…" Merry repeated. She was looking up into the sky and didn't seem to hear him.

"Please Merry you have to-"

Merry simply pointed up at the darkness. Her father's gaze reluctantly followed it and looked up into the darkness, just in time to see something large, craggy, white and heavy fall from it and crash onto one of the two would-be kidnappers. "An angel!" he heard his daughter whisper excitedly.

If the being was an angel, then heaven must've been a very, very cold place because the creature looked as if it were made of ice. There was also a possibility that heaven was a tad violent, if the very strong punch that sent one of the Serno's assailants flying backwards was of any indication.

The other one was not nearly as cooperative though. The second of the kidnappers charged at the ice creature, delivering a swift blow to its chest causing it to give out a pained grunt in reply. After being sent staggering back a few paces, the ice creature attempted another punch but the second kidnapper had apparently learned from the mistakes of his cohort and caught the fist mid-strike. With strength that no ordinary human could've possibly possessed, the expressionless hitman grabbed the rest of the ice creature's arm and flung him into the nearby streetlight.

An audible groan of pain could be heard emanating from the creature, though it had no mouth to speak of. It opened its icy blue eyes to see that the first kidnapper he had knocked down earlier was slowly getting up and the one who had punched him was now walking purposefully in his direction. The Sernos were clutching one another in fear and astonishment, eyeing him intently. But there was something different, it noticed. Everything seemed more…orange. It gave the lamp that was illuminating the street a glance and saw that it had been damaged (well if you slam anything with half a ton of ice, they don't come out mint fresh in any scenario) and was casting everything in its range with an orange glow. Suddenly, the ice creature swung one of its massive fists and smashed the streetlamp to pieces, sending everything into darkness.

What followed next was something of a blur. Professor Serno remembered he shouted for Merry to run and recalled a cold, gloved hand grabbing him by the cuff. He didn't know which of the two had grabbed him, but he remembered being tossed inside the black vehicle, the slam of the car doors, the roar of the engine and before he knew it, he had been kidnapped. The scientist shook his head and looked to his side, hoping to see an empty chair. It wasn't to be, there Merry sat, apparently struck unconscious during the scuffle. Demands, threats and questions circled in his mind but all that came out was. "Where are we going?"

One of the kidnappers twitched before turning to face his captive (Professor Serno could've sworn he heard a soft mechanical whir come from his neck as he did so). "You're going to work Mr. Serno. Please buckle up." And as the car sped up, away from the house, the passengers and the drivers failed to notice that something was trying to run after them. It wasn't a hurt iceman, a police officer or a witness. If the inhuman driver had looked in the rear-view mirror he would've seen for the most fleeting of moments, the small figure of a little girl trying to catch up with her abducted father and realize he had made a grave error.

(Somewhere in the city)

While they were in the process of parking in front of a large building, Professor Serno tried to imagine what sinister, diabolical centre of evil his kidnappers had brought him to and was shocked and just a little bit disappointed that it was the local NASA branch, the place where he worked.

The two thugs were quick to yank the professor and his miraculously awake daughter out of the car and shoved them through the unlocked entrance of the facility. The comforts of certainty the brightly-lit corridors that his workplace usually provided Serno now seemed to abandon him and even his daughter's hold on his hand was cold and unfamiliar.

"Wait, you just missed my lab." If they wanted his communications technology, they were headed in the completely wrong direction.

One of the kidnappers, who had been twitching as he walked since he had been punched by that ice creature earlier muttered almost intelligibly. "We just need you to finalize something."

A few more turns and they were facing the double doors of the test hall. Professor Serno remembered this room. It was a large atrium where vital space flight equipment was assembled, studied and tested. The room was by far the most well guarded area in the facility, sporting two access panels that required two people to enter the two different codes simultaneously. Each of the kidnappers stiffly walked to the panels on either side of the door, backs turned, knowing full well they could catch their charges if they attempted to flee. That's when Merry Serno's arms, much to her father's shock, morphed into two sharp, curved purple blades which whipped out and impaled the two kidnappers in their respective backs.

The two kidnappers' fingers were inches away from the numbered keys before their arms slumped to their sides. They looked down to where the blades had lodged themselves, sticking out wickedly and with a loud crackle of electricity, collapsed onto the floor.

Professor Serno was, to say the least, stunned.

"M-Merry?"

'Merry' was busy retracting her bladed arms from the robotic henchmen's bodies, thankful that he had guessed correctly where the explosives were and that his attack had disabled them. He turned to face Professor Serno.

"I'm sorry for tricking you Professor and I apologize for putting you and your daughter in danger." 'Merry's appearance quivered and slowly changed till her features altered to look exactly like her father's.

"What in the world?" Professor Serno started to back away, terrified at seeing his daughter transforming into an identical duplicate of himself, right down to his protruding nose hair.

The copy looked down at the floor, refusing to meet the scientist's gaze. "I don't have time to explain." He then cast a glance at the two downed robotic kidnappers, their bodies curled up in electric spasms. "Merry was almost kidnapped today, I managed to fight the creep off but like these guys he wasn't…human."

"Why were they after her?" The absurdity of the situation was gradually staring to lessen now that he knew his daughter was in danger.

"Probably as leverage, they wanted you to help them do something terrible." The Serno copy noticed that there was a smooth blue pad on the bottom half of the access panels. "These read fingerprints?"

"Yes, but they only register NASA employ-." His identical clone gave him an odd look. "Oh," Serno said in realization. "Do you need me to help you with that, uh…" The professor scratched the back of his head uncomfortably. "They only read right thumbs."

"Eh, I'll manage." Despite having been kidnapped by androids, seeing his daughter stab said abductors, Serno shouldn't have been too amazed to see his replica's right thumb split into two identical digits. "I found one of their cell phones and learned they planned to take you to their boss tonight. I would have gone as you instead, but my powers require a DNA sample to work…" His two right thumbs stretched out towards the door's left and right sides and gently pressed on the two sensors. "I'd never be able to pass myself off as you." The screens lit up. "Luckily, when I rescued her earlier, she tried to bite me when I tried to get her back home and it was enough for me to mimic her appearance." At this statement, a look of disgust was visible on both their faces and they shuddered at the same time. "So I called Merry as someone from your office and told her to come outside while I waited for you to arrive."

"So you…knew they'd go for Merry too. And you took out that streetlamp to take her place," Serno sounded genuinely impressed. "Did you plan…everything?"

"Well, I didn't plan on getting punched, but for the most part yes." A soft buzz filled the hall as the locks started to disengage.

"How'd you get my sample, a hair, skin?"

The copy looked uneasy. "You tend to, um, sweat a lot."

"Oh," the professor said for the second time that night, a little embarrassed at having this pointed out. "But wait, you know what they're planning?"

The gravity of the message he recovered made the doppelganger cringe. "I might have an idea of what they're planning, but I still don't know why." He readjusted his newly grown glasses. "You should probably go home and call the police, I'm sure your Merry's worried about you."

Nodding, the professor made a motion to leave his saviour but stopped. "You have a plan, right?"

His copy shrugged. "Actually, I'm pretty much making this up as I go along now." He gave the original an uneasy smile, which he returned to his twin just as uneasily. "And if anyone asks." The copy said as the twin doors automatically opened. "I'm a dude" he finished awkwardly.

_"Or so you say." _A voice within him mocked.

'Professor Serno' ignored this statement and strode into the darkness of the test hall.

"Thank you." The real Serno managed to spurt out before the doors slammed shut, now knowing that there were wonders out there that to could not be explained. He only hoped that this one survived to defy explanation.

To be continued…

Author Note: A bit short, but I think it went rather well considering there are only so many synonyms for the word 'clone'. Once more, if you're still a fan of my work, please feel free to share your thoughts on how I can improve or at least, tell me what I did right via reviews or e-mails. That's it, and a special apology to all those who waited patiently for this to come out. If it's any consolation I've come up with 3 possible titles for the Ben 10/Loneliest Number crossover:

1. Idols (title is an allusion to Heroes, complete with spoofed chapter titles such as Benesis)

2. Counterparts (Not too proud of this one)

3. Twenty Titans of Triumph (a play on Grant Morrison's epic megaseries)

So input on which title to pick would also be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.


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